Mass Effect 2: Andromeda Series
by xenowriter
Summary: The sequel to my Andromeda Series. Andromeda is now a C-Sec Officer but will that make things go horrible between her and Garrus? Why does Garrus go to Omega and will have any control on finding Sidonis?
1. Chapter 1

"Officer! Officer!" A voice shouted from the bustling crowd on the Zakera Ward. Andromeda glanced over as she tried to make her way through towards C-Sec. Even though technically she wasn't on duty yet, Andromeda decided to pause in her journey to see what the young Salarian vendor wanted.

"Yes?" She asked as she finally made her way up to his counter. She assumed that he needed help, but Salarians were very easy to read…and he didn't look that distress. In fact, he looked excited…

The Salarian took a second to respond and then pointed his finger out to her with a huge smile across his soft face. "You look like you would be interested in the new Blasto game. Just came out and I'll even give you a discount." The Salarian spoke quickly as he picked up the OSD in front of him.

Andromeda looked at him painfully. She lost her place in line to where she needed to go for just this? Exhausted already, she looked over at the crowd that she would have to fight through to get where she really needed to go. "You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm not. It has great ratings! I have a copy myself and let me tell you, I never could put it down!" The Salarian continued rapidly. His eyes blinked as she finally noticed that he took a breath.

Andromeda held up her hand and turned her right foot towards C-Sec's direction. "Sorry, I'm not very interested."

"Not a problem, Officer. Remember to come back to my booth in a few months! Rumor has it; they are making a game off of Commander Shepard. Now _that_ may be more up your alley."

Hearing this, Andromeda paused in mid stride and pivoted around to put her attention back on the vendor. She was dumbfounded. "They are making a game?"

The Salarian's smile grew even bigger this time and he outstretched his arms in awe. "Why not? Commander Shepard fought off the evil Saren and those…Geth! Saved the Citadel! That game would be ten times better than Blasto in my opinion. "

Andromeda shook her head sadly and walked away, not even bothering to respond. For one, she knew if she stayed there, the Salarian would keep talking and she would end up buying something from him. Two, she would be even more late to work. The Salarians were known to be great negotiators. However, those were not the reasons she walked away. The whole game concept bothered her. How could make they make a game about the attack after a lot of people died?

Pushing the pointless argument out of her mind, she finally made it to C-Sec and her blue eyes settled upon Captain Bailey sitting at his desk at the front. Captain Bailey was an average built C-Sec Officer with broad shoulders from probably sort of military background. He had blonde hair and looked to be in his late forties, early fifties. "Finally made it I see," Bailey greeted her as he kept his eyes on the monitor in front of him.

"Sorry…one of the vendors stopped me and I-"Andromeda started to explain herself, but Bailey lifted up his hand to stop her.

"It's only been a month since you've started to work the wards, Officer Kryek. You'll learn…" Was all that Captain Bailey said as he returned his focus back on his monitor. "Hopefully it will be a quiet evening….I want you patrolling around Dark Star. Think you can handle it?" This time he glanced up to look at her. She knew he wanted an honest answer. The Dark Star lounge was nothing compared to Chora's Den, but it still drew in the crowd with its variety of liquor from Krogan Ale to Asari Wine.

Andromeda saluted and nodded with solid confidence. "No problem here, sir."

"You're out of basic training now, Kryek. Don't salute me…damn it makes me feel old. Just watch yourself…and you contact dispatch if you spot anything. You got it? Don't go out there and think you're a Spectre. That's the best way to die when you're a new officer."

"Yes, sir." Andromeda turned to go to her post when she almost bumped into a Volus. "Excuse me…" She blurted out as she felt embarrassed for not even seeing him there. The Volus were a pretty standard looking species on the Citadel. They were about three feet tall, with a round shape. They wore some sort of environmental suits with a respirator. You could always hear them taking a breath as they spoke with their raspy voices.

"It's no problem, officer…." The Volus replied. "My credit chit has been stolen."

Captain Bailey glanced over casually and then looked back the monitor with a response, "Kor Tun…are you sure this time?"

Andromeda seemed very impressed that her captain could easily recognize this one. "Yes…" Kor Tun rasped. "I spotted a Quarian nearby….and I believe that he may have taken it."

"Sir?" Andromeda asked, seeing if her captain wanted to continue this one on his own or have her take over. Captain Bailey waved her off and she looked down upon the circular shaped alien. "Belief is not concrete evidence, sir, did you or anyone see the Quarian take your credit chit?"

"Well…no…..but it _had_ to be him!" The Volus shouted out in dismay.

"Alright…let me get some facts from you. Where were you prior to noticing that your chit was missing?"

"I was at Dark Star to meet a coworker of mine…and…" The Volus paused to take a breath, then continued. "I had my chit out to have the bartender pay my tab with and then….when I walked out of the lounge….that's when I was missing it."

"Maybe you left it in Dark Star?" Andromeda curiously asked as she kind of knew where this was going.

"I don't know…..it was pretty crowded…that Quarian may have been there too."

"Well that area is where I'm working this evening. Before we jump to conclusions, why don't we both go to Dark Star and ask the bartender if he knows anything?"

"Alright….couldn 't hurt."

"I need to speak with my Captain. You go on over and I'll meet you there." Andromeda motioned in which the Volus complied. She figured she would have a few moments to spare since she could probably walk there faster than he could. Once he was out her sight, she turned around to Bailey. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking….how did you know that was Kor Tun?"

Captain Bailey looked out to see the Volus trying to squeeze his way through the crowd to make his way to Dark Star. "Because this is not the first time he has managed to lose that credit chit. Every time he loses it, he starts to blame someone stealing it from him. He's just lucky we manage to recover it. I'll bet the credit chit in my pocket that he left it with the bartender at the lounge."

"I think I have a lot of learning to do," Andromeda smiled as she looked at the brutal walk she would have to do through the crowd.

"Give it time. "

"Sir! You have to see this newscast!" A young human male officer excitedly yelled as he ran past the Captain to turn on the vid without even asking for permission. There was such urgency behind his voice that it sent a cold chill down Andromeda's spine.

The vid came to life and the famous Citadel news reporter, Emily Wong, appeared on the screen. Usually the Asian descent woman would have a cheery smile on her face, but this time it was a look of remorse and despair. "News of a tragedy struck Council space today…the Normandy was attacked by an unknown vessel and destroyed. A distress signal was sent out prior to the ship's communications going offline. Alliance ships have been dispatched to locate the Normandy and its crew. There is no word on how many survived the attack including the human Spectre Shepard." Emily paused as if she was unable to continue on, a few tears dripped from her eyes. Andromeda couldn't determine if there was any sincerity in the reporter's on camera performance. "More as this develops..."

A complete hush surrounded C-Sec and the surrounding area of the Zakera Ward. The words were still trying to penetrate the mental barrier Andromeda placed up to block this devastating assault. Attacked? Unknown vessel? No word survivors? Bile formed in her throat as a huge knot developed in her stomach. Finally, everything seeped in. The Normandy was the ship that Garrus on…assisting Shepard with the Geth incursions. He was on board! Did he not survive the attack as well? No! He _had_ to.

"Andromeda…." Captain Bailey spoke out her name. She was not used to him calling her by her first name. "I think you said at one point when you joined C-Sec that you had a friend helping Commander Shepard….Garrus Vakarian. I'm sorry…..he was a damn fine C-Sec officer. Wish I could have had him on my team now…

She knew her captain was trying to sympathize with her loss, but she knew that he couldn't. Her ears perked up on distant conversations nearby as listeners were now conversing among one another and making their own assumptions. She didn't want to hear anymore…she wanted to get out of there! "Sir…I need some time alone…" She felt the hot tears wanting to be released and her voice cracked.

"I understand…take the rest of the week off…I'll send an officer down to meet the Volus. You just take care of yourself and no funny stuff got it?"

Without thanking him, she turned and hurried as fast as she could towards her apartment in the lower Wards. This could not be happening!


	2. Chapter 2

Andromeda rubbed her fingertip around the rim of her empty glass in a trance like state as she sat at the Dark Star's bar. She had lost count on how long she had been there and how many glasses she had…it was either the booze finally impacting her brain or still the unsettling nerves she heard over a week ago…more than like a combination of booth. Jenna had accompanied her to the lounge, but Andromeda simply forgot that she was there. Her mind was clouded with images of the Normandy's attack and the fate of Garrus Vakarian.

The first couple of days after hearing the news, Andromeda hoped that Garrus and the others that she met during her adventure with Saren, would find her and all would be well once again. However, as the days passed and still no word, hope was fading. It was all déjà vu. Memories of waiting for Nihlus crept into her mind which made her grieve even more. She finally relied on alcohol to take the pain away, but it seemed to rekindle her emotions back up more than suppress them. Sniffing, she tried her best to control her tears dripping down, but the more she fought, the more they came down, moistening the inside of her glass once again and the table.

The Turian bartender cocked his head to the side as he looked on then asked her friend, "What's the matter with her?"

"We lost someone important aboard the ship that the Spectre was on…it's hitting her more. She'll be fine. She's just coping." Andromeda overheard Jenna reply.

"Ya, damn shame. I know you guys had a lot of your Alliance people on board. Lost my brother on the Turian cruiser tryin to stop those Geth ships when they attacked here. I used to think this place was safe….guess I was wrong." The bartender gave a soft chuckle as he wiped the area with a cloth. But the chuckle meant no sort of joy what so ever.

"It was a Turian…" Andromeda finally spoke out as she looked up at him with her red eyes for only an instant before returning them back down to her empty glass.

"Turian?" The bartender asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah…Garrus Vakarian. He used to be a C-Sec officer here on the Citadel. He teamed up with Shepard awhile back and saved Andromeda out in the traverse from Saren."

"I remember him." The Turian smiled as he recalled some private memory. "The hard-ass." Andromeda couldn't help herself from smiling at his remark as she listened in. "Tell ya what. You get any drink you want and it's on me."

"Just give me something strong…I need to go to sleep." Andromeda muttered as she sighed and pushed her empty glass over to him.

"You got it…" The bartender winked to her as he reached down to the lower counters and pulled out an unmarked container. "My own surprise stock. Uncut Batarian ale. You drink this and you'll be asleep."

"She'll pass on that." A strong and firm voice spoke from behind.

Andromeda looked behind her to see Anderson standing there in a casual outfit. He stood beside Andromeda and motioned the bartender to go on. "I'll handle it from here."

"Sir…this isn't my fault! She wanted to come here." Jenna blurted out.

"I am not putting any blame on you, Jenna. I told you to look after her. May I talk with her in private?" Anderson asked, his brown concerned eyes on Andromeda who was sitting there.

Nodding, Jenna gently placed her hand on her friend's arm. "Vid me later got it?"

Once Jenna was out of his sight, Anderson pulled out the chair next to Andromeda and sat down. "She says you haven't been sleeping and Captain Bailey told me you haven't checked in."

"Sir…he was your protégé…Shepard that is. You believe they are not dead right?" Andromeda's voice perked up with a gleam of hope as she looked at him.

Sighing, the new Human Ambassador skimmed the area with his eyes. "I want to believe that they are alive as much as you do. Shepard and his team did a lot for us. If they weren't out there trying to stop Saren…I don't think any of us would be alive right now. However, Shepard was a solider…he knew the risks…they all did." Andromeda remained silent as she took his words in. "Believe me…as soon as the news hit, I dispatched Alliance vessels to their last coordinates as part of a Recovery team. No word yet….but it doesn't mean they have stopped looking."

"Sir…"Andromeda began.

"Enough with the formalities, Andromeda. It makes me feel old. Speak your mind." Anderson paused and grinned a little. "I can't believe _that_ is bringing back memories." The girl next to him gave him a confused look so he explained, "My superior officer said the same exact thing to me when I came out of the Academy."

"I just don't know why everyone has to die that I know…while I keep living. Nihlus….Garrus…Shepard…they were all important to the galaxy." Andromeda slumped back in her chair.

"None of that, Officer Kryek." Anderson scolded. "I have seen many soldiers die in combat…many of them my men…good men too. I used to ask myself that very question till I realized that meant that I would be the one to help take down the true son of a bitch." Anderson motioned the bartender over once more and paid him with his credit chit. "I remember when Garrus was investigating Saren for us. Despite being told to give up the case, he didn't. He was a fine C-Sec officer and I wish he was a human to join the Alliance. Now I expect you to contact Bailey tomorrow and report back for duty towards the end of the week. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Andromeda nodded as she gingerly slipped out of her chair to steady herself before attempting to walk. She felt an unsettling wave of dizziness strike her….probably too much booze and lack of sleep. She was actually glad that Anderson intervened before she had that Batarian ale.

"You're here early." Captain Bailey greeted Andromeda as she walked in later on the week for her shift.

"I didn't want to let you down, sir." Andromeda replied as she walked over to the nearby monitor to clock in.

"Good thing." Bailey groaned a little tiredly as he stood up from his desk. "You're needed at Dark Star. I made sure to be the one to tell you before I went on home for the night. Your contact will find you there."

"Contact?"

"Are you questioning your assignment, officer?" Bailey's tone became serious.

"Uh…oh, no sir!" Andromeda snapped to attention. "On my way." She turned and hurried out to make her way yet again to the lounge.

Captain Bailey couldn't help but to smile from ear to ear as he watched her leave.

Dark Star's techno beats vibrated outside the lounge as Andromeda walked up to the sliding doors. Many of its patrons were outside the club talking amongst one another before they waved each other off. Some of them glanced over at the young female C-Sec officer as she passed.

Once inside, Andromeda anxiously scanned the area but didn't see anyone of interest. Everyone seemed to be the lounge's normal customers arranging from humans to Krogans. Despite the oddness in her thinking it, but even the Krogans seemed to be mellow. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Catching the Turian bartender ahead wiping the bar's counter, she walked up in confusion. "Someone's supposed to meet me here."

"Beats me, lady. Sorry." The bartender walked over to two patrons on the other side of the bar to refill their glasses.

Defeated and feeling a bit nervous with all the glances with her being in uniform, Andromeda slowly backed up to make her way out of the club.

"Looking for someone?" A male, recognizable voice called out to her nearby. Whirling around, she saw Garrus standing a few feet away with his back against the lounge's side wall. Despite not really having lips as humans would recognize them to smile with, Andromeda could tell he was. He took a step forward, favoring one of his legs.

Concerned and shock overwhelmed her and she raced over, her hands supporting his shoulders. "You-you're alive….h-how…ar-are you ok?" She stammered. This was too good to be true! Was she dreaming? Or was she really still sitting with Anderson at the bar and this was merely a sadistic vision fabricated by the booze?

Garrus laughed a little as he looked down at her. "Very much alive…despite how sore my body still is."

"Oh…" Andromeda flushed in embarrassment as she helped him over to a free round table in the corner. She hurriedly sat down across from him. "What about Shepard?"

"Shepard…." Garrus paused and then sighed. "He didn't make it…at least no word of him….apparently he stayed on the ship to save Joker. Boy is he taking it bad…I would too."

"Does Anderson know about this?" Andromeda recalled her conversation with the ambassador earlier that week.

"Due to formalities, he was the first that I had to speak with." The Turian's voice seemed to grow a little colder. "He told me how much you were _enjoying_ your position as his aid."

"Have you seen the Citadel's construction? There are so many new places here." Andromeda replied, trying her best to change the subject. She knew with Garrus' past feelings of C-Sec that he wouldn't really like to know that she was working for them. She was hoping that he would overlook his past….guess she was wrong.

"You are not going to run away from this one, Andromeda. " Garrus' voice was firm. "C-Sec? "

"You told me not to go back to Chora's Den."

"This is one of Jenna's schemes isn't it? Damn her…." Garrus fumed quietly.

Andromeda could tell with the expression on his face that confronting her friend was the next step in his agenda for the day and she didn't want her friend to get blamed for this. "Garrus, this wasn't her idea. I wanted to make a difference and C-Sec needed people."

"Policy and procedures are the only thing they are good with. They will tie you down, Andromeda and keep you from doing your job. If you corner a suspect and he draws a weapon on you, C-Sec wants you to wait until they fire at you before shooting. What good is an officer if he cannot defend himself? When you're a Spectre, someone's not telling you what you can and cannot do."

"Captain Bailey has already promoted me, Garrus and I'm doing a great job at it." Andromeda argued in defense.

"At what? This isn't a game, Andromeda."

"Look, I may not be as good as you were. Now that you're back…you can rejoin C-Sec and help me. They _need_ someone like you." Andromeda pleaded. As soon as she saw the gray Turian back in her life, she secretly hoped that he would find a reason to stay on the Citadel and finally she could act upon her feelings for him. However, it wasn't going that way and it almost seemed like he wasn't really planning on staying on the station for too much longer.

"Rejoin?" Garrus chuckled in retort. "When I go after a suspect, it shouldn't be how I do it, as long as I do it. I have learned that maybe I need unlimited power to get my job done. I'm contacting one of my old commanders in the Turian military tomorrow and ask to continue to my Spectre training."

Andromeda shook her head in disbelief. Was this the same Garrus Vakarian that rescued her on Virmire? "So you want to become like Saren?"

Scooting himself away from the table, Garrus stood up. "I suggest, Andromeda, that tomorrow you quit C-Sec and go find a nice colony to live on." His words filled with ice "Anderson told me to have you see him about Horizon." He groaned a little in pain as he turned and began to limp his way towards the lounge's entrance.

Panicking, Andromeda moved her body in front of him to stop him. "Garrus, I was worried about you…" She blurted out as her heart raced, her voice soft. She didn't want him to go even if that meant finally confessing to the feelings that she stored inside.

"Andromeda…" Garrus met her eyes and then clenched his mandible. "My investigation was into proving that Saren turned rogue….he's dead…a fitting punishment for his crime." He paused and stepped around her to continue his way. "I appreciate your assistance in the investigation…however, I'm no longer part of C-Sec."

Hurt….betrayed, Andromeda lashed out, "Damn you, Turian!"

"Go back to the colonies, human!" Garrus yelled back as he walked out of the lounge, the door whishing behind him. Their high volume words caught the attention of several customers.

"Go be like Saren! You heartless bastard! Have all the power you want!"

Despite the lounge's door being closed, Garrus could clearly hear Andromeda's last remark on the other side. After turning the corner, he paused and looked back around to make sure that she was not coming out yet. Clenching his fists tightly at his side, he thought about what just transpired between them and growled angrily, "Stupid!"

6


	3. Chapter 3

One year later….

"Human! You there! You look like you need one of my travel packages." The bare-faced brown Turian shop keeper called to Andromeda as she was passing by. He was one of the many Turians that Andromeda noticed on the station that bared no markings on their face unlike Garrus and Nihlus. She never did get to ask any of them what the markings meant, but she assumed it was some sort of status symbol…or clan marking. Would it insult to ask the bare-face why they bore no markings of their own? Were they outcasts from a clan….or was it simply a choice?

Even though she was on duty, she decided she needed a break and was curious about the store since she never been inside before. "Travel packages?"

"Ever taken down a shatha before?" The shop keeper asked, his beady bird-like eyes glowing in excitement.

"Uh…." Andromeda tilted her head, trying to go through her alien vocabulary that she picked up on the station, but that terminology was not sounding familiar at all. "I am not quite sure what that is…"

The Turian looked to be more shocked than appalled. "Not sure what that is? By bless the spirits…" He laughed. "If not shatha, then what sort of prey do you hunt, officer? Surely you female humans are allowed to hunt game!"

Regretting for almost even stopping, Andromeda stammered, "I shot a Geth once…I am not sure if that really counts…"

"Geth?" A squishy human like you took down Geth?" This time he seemed to be laughing _at_ her.

"Yes, I did. When they attacked the station, I managed to shoot one before it had a chance to kill Shepard and his team…" Her voice drifted off. At first she was angry for the shop keeper to be even questioning her ability to defend herself, but as she recalled the memory, pain hit her. Was it really a year since Garrus returned to the Citadel and left to be a Spectre himself?

"You knew the Spectre Shepard? The one that took down Saren?" The Turian outstretched his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Please have a discount. Anyone that helped Shepard deserves some sort of a discount. So what type of package would you like? Remember, it's not just for traveling…it's an experience."

"Uh…" Suddenly she heard the beep on her comlink from dispatch which made her let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the beep.

"_Disturbance at Dark Star. Report came in saying that a human was drunk outside the lounge."_

"I'm on it." Andromeda responded and courteously gave a farewell head gesture to the Turian and made her way towards the lounge nearby. The lounge was becoming more of a hot spot for her….a painful one.

When she rounded the corner, her blue eyes instantly fell upon Harkin sitting down against the lounge's outer wall. The older, bald man had his legs outstretched with his head resting backwards. She could just tell by looking at him that he had to be the one that was drunk.

"Harkin, what are you doing this time? I thought I wouldn't have to see you again." Andromeda exhaustively said as she neared.

The man's bloodshot eyes looked up at her and he cracked a sadistic smile. "Hey….that officer's uniform looks pretty hot on you. You going to do a lap dance for old Harkin…"

Andromeda shook her head as she bent down and placed her hand under his arm for support. "Come on, Harkin. The patrons don't like you sitting out here. How much did you have tonight?"

"Plenty…" Harkin chuckled as he stumbled up onto his feet. "Why don't we go back to my place to work this booze out of my system?"

"Harkin…I have a better idea. Why don't I take you back to the precinct for detox?" Andromeda slowly let go of his arm to make sure he was going to be able to stand up by himself. She did smell some alcohol on his breath, but not much as he had on him at Chora's Den. His eyes were extremely blood shot….there was more in his system besides just alcohol. "I will need to pat you down before I take you in, Harkin, ok? Is there anything I should be aware of?"

"Frisk me all you want, baby. Your hands can go anywhere." Harkin chuckled as he stood still.

Catching the onlookers of patrons entering and exiting the lounge, Andromeda sighed at Harkin making a usual spectacle out of himself and began to pat him down. When she reached into his right pants pocket, she felt the material of a small bag. She squeezed it gingerly to make sure not to break the material but instantly recognized what was inside. Taking it, she saw that it was a small bag of red sand. A very illegal substance on the station. Red sand was normally a drug sold out in the traverse by mercenaries who needed some quick cash in between jobs. The drug gave a false short termed biotic ability giving the body an adrenaline rush. However, once the user came down off of it, the craving was more extreme than the last and sometimes frequent use of the substance caused heart failures.

Red sand was a well known drug that she studied about while in training, but its findings on the station were rare . Too rare to question Harkin about his possession right there in the open. Quickly slipping the bag into her pants pocket, she grabbed Harkin by the arm towards the stairwell that led down towards the lower part of the Zakera Ward to C-Sec. Once out of public view, she stopped and took the baggie out of her pocket once more. "Where did you get this, Harkin?"

"Oh that…just my private stash. You gonna book me on that too, Officer?" Harkin this time looked to be annoyed. She was beginning to wonder if his state at the lounge was all from the alcohol or was he coming down?

"You know that this stuff is very illegal on the Citadel, Harkin. Very tough to obtain…I know you couldn't have sneaked it through customs on your own so where did you get it?"

"Why? I ain't sellin it and that's only enough to last me the next few days." Harkin then paused and smiled slyly. "Why don't you make a deal with old Harkin?"

"Harkin, I'm not in the mood to play any games with you. Come clean and you may get a lighter sentence with your possession. I'll even put in the recommendation myself."

The bald man stepped back and casually crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall in front of her. "What if I take you to my supplier here on the station?"

Andromeda looked at him curiously. What was he talking about? There was no way that somebody was just handing out red sand on the Citadel. Security was too tight for a seller to even try to dock with that stuff. Would Harkin be that willing to turn in the person that was lucky enough to get past security to ruin his chance of another hit? No drug user would starve themselves like that. Harkin was bluffing! Not letting on to what she knew, Andromeda replied, "Fine, Harkin. We'll play. You tell me the location of your supplier and I'll arrange a sting operation with my captain. Either way, you are being locked up tonight on some of the charges. If you cooperate with this, I will drop the possession charges." She knew that public intoxication was a much lighter sentence than the possession of red sand….he would have to take this bait.

"Nuh uh," The older man shook his head and smiled as he stayed where he was with his arms crossed. He kept his voice low. "You really think I'm going to let you run off and tell all of C-Sec? Those idiots will screw this up! The people I am dealing with are smart…they get one sniff of C-Sec being involved and they'll vanish. You'll never find them again. Don't you want a big break?"

Andromeda rubbed her head as she looked around a bit nervously. She really hoped that no one was listening in. "Harkin, what do you suggest?"

Harkin stood straight up and the grin seemed to be getting bigger. "You go with me tomorrow to buy some…then you can bust them. They won't suspect me. All you have to do is look pretty. You know…wear one of those outfits you had back in Chora's Den. Besides, the C-Sec getup will give you away. What do you say?" He stretched out his hand to accept hers.

This was completely suicidal and insane! How she could trust Harkin? What if he was telling the truth though? Now he placed her in a tough position and he knew it! Damn him! If she took him, there was no way he would be out by tomorrow to even try to bust the red sand dealers. He and her both knew these guys had to be smart….they wouldn't stay in the same place forever. If Harkin was a regular, he would know where they would be, however, if he went missing a few days, they would get suspicious and leave. "Tomorrow…and if you don't show up then I _will_ find you." She warned.

Harkin held up his hands in defense. "Easy there. I won't run away. After all, you're not turning me in…it's the least I can do. Meet me down at the factory district the same time tomorrow…and please don't dress like that."

"Yea…" Andromeda shifted her gaze around to make sure still that no one was watching and then motioned her head towards the bottom of the stairwell. "Go on and get out of here. Stay out of this area of the wards tonight. Got it?"

"I'm going…I'm going…" Harkin muttered as he turned and walked down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he looked up to see that Andromeda went the opposite direction. Sneering, he cursed under his breath and then turned to the right to go towards the elevator that led down to the shipping docks.

Once at the shipping docks, ex C-Sec officer known as Harkin, made his way to the more vacant area. The only ship still in the vicinity was what appeared to be a worn down small vessel. As Harkin neared, a Batarian came down the ship's ramp and gestured his head to the other Batarian that was standing guard in a dark corner.

The guard Batarian had a Blue Sun insignia tattooed on his face. The Blue Suns were a merc group predominantly found in the Traverse on Omega. Majority of their members ranged from Turians to Humans to Batarians. Harkin always seemed uncomfortable in talking to the Batarians due to their second set of eyes near the top of their head above their first set. He never knew which eyes he should be looking at when he was talking to them. "Where is our merchandise?" The one off the ship bellowed.

"Patience, I'm working on it. I _did_ tell you that this wasn't going to be an easy job." Harkin casually stated.

"You promised a dozen slaves to take back to Omega…" The guard growled as his hand gripped the butt of the gun in frustration. "We paid your ridiculous price, human."

"I did get you access aboard this station didn't I? That was no easy task. Citadel slaves are hard to come by….and you will be rewarded well back on Omega. You know that. I found one and she'll be coming tomorrow."

"One?" The first growled as he pushed past the guard and stood right in front of Harkin. His hot foul breath blowing on him. "One will do us no good, Fade! We demand a refund!"

"Look…" Harkin eyed several of the boxes that were setting out from the ship behind the Batarians. He already knew what was inside. Strolling past them, he walked over to inspect the known containers once again. "My job is to help make people disappear…_fade_ away as you will. She will be perfect. An ex-dancer on this very station." Harkin's eyes grew wider with anticipation as they laid upon hundreds of bags containing red sand.

What he said did catch the four eyes' attention. He could hear them muttering back and forth till finally the leader spoke out. "Asari?" He spat in disgust. "We cannot compete with the Asari dancers already in the Afterlife….besides their biotic powers cannot be easily controlled."

"Human…" Harkin corrected as he freely grabbed a bag of the sand from the box to replace the one that Andromeda earlier confiscated. "Quite the eye candy…that is if you four eyes go that way."

"Tomorrow, Fade…" The Batarian guard snatched the bag from his hand. "Or we will find you….no one screws with the Blue Suns."

"Tomorrow, but she's going to be a little pricier…" Harkin held out his hand.

The guard, offended, glanced over to his comrade who moved his head in Harkin's direction. Defeated, the guard shoved the sand back into Harkin's hand and pointed for him to leave. "Remember, Fade, bring her…or we'll make _ you_ disappear."

Later on the next night, Andromeda waited patiently at the factory district as Harkin instructed. She was wearing the same outfit that she kept from her job at Chora's Den. She had to take several maintenance passages to avoid any suspicion. She was just lucky that she had access with her C-Sec keycard. The humming and clanging of machinery in the distance made it difficult for Andromeda to be alert to her surroundings. She just hoped that Harkin stayed true to his word. The only difficulty she had was that her tight skin outfit made her unable to hide a weapon of any kind. She brought along her hand gun and stupidly knew that she had to entrust Harkin to conceal it and choose the right time to make the bust. She couldn't believe that she was this trusting of him. Was it too late to back out?

"All set, baby?" Harkin asked as he walked up, catching her in surprise. His sudden voice made Andromeda whirl around, aiming the gun at him. Harkin instinctively held up his hands in alarm. "Whoa whoa!"

"Why the hell did you sneak up on me like that, Harkin?" Andromeda caught her heart in her throat as she took a breath to calm her nerves, lowering her weapon.

"Nice outfit….but I don't think you can just walk up and carry that thing." Harkin motioned to her gun.

"I know…I need you to hide it. Just don't be stupid, Harkin, got it?" She held out the gun to him, handle first.

"I used to work in C-Sec, remember? Don't _you_ be all stupid like my superiors." Harkin grumbled as he took the gun from her and stuffed into the back waist band of his pants, covering it up with his shirt. "Ready?"

"Lead the way."

Reaching the lower docks again, Andromeda made a mental note of their location and how they got there. Harkin led them to the vessel on the end of the dock….as they approached, out stepped two Batarians. Andromeda couldn't believe her eyes! Batarians? Here on the Citadel? When she got closer, she recognized the one with the Blue Suns marking. So not only were these Batarians but they were with the Suns? How could that be possible without security clearance? Even if they had some sort of radar jamming device, the station was filled with vessels, they couldn't have just sneaked in without being seen. Someone had to give them clearance….from inside? Bewildered, Andromeda continued to ponder about this as they approached.

"So what ya think?" Harkin asked proudly.

The leader Batarian smirked as the second one gave an approving nod. "Not bad, Fade."

"Fade?" Andromeda snapped out her stupor as she looked around. Her eyes went wide as everything was piecing together. The red sand…the access inside the Citadel….someone on the inside…it was Harkin! But why would he willfully lead her down to betray the Batarians for a measly bust of a red sand bag? Something still wasn't adding up.

"The box." The lead Batarian motioned to the guard and seconds later the guard came back with a box filled with thousands of red sand baggies.

Andromeda watched the transaction. Ok, the goods….but what about payment? That box had to cost thousands and Harkin didn't have that kind of creds on him. Before she had a chance to ask, she felt one of the Batarians grab her arm, drawing her closer. "Come on. We need to get to Omega."

"Wait!" Andromeda tried to pull away. "I'm not going with you, four eyes!" She helplessly looked over at Harkin who had a devious grin. "Don't just stand there! Do something!"

"Have fun on Omega!" The bald man laughed as he placed the box lid back on his goods.

Adrenaline pumping as she feared for her life, Andromeda squirmed as hard as she could despite the pain from the Batarian's vice. There was no way she was going to Omega! "She's a feisty one too…" The Batarian who was holding onto her laughed in amusement.

"I'll show you feisty…" Andromeda growled through clench teeth as she stomped hard on the alien's foot and broke free from his grip. She ran as hard as she could towards the next closest being she could get to…Harkin. Pulling back her arm, she nailed him as hard as she could with her right fist, breaking his nose. His blood splattered, coating her fist. Harkin wailed in pain as he covered his nose.

The Batarians laughed as they watched on. Becoming desperate, Andromeda reached forward to grab her gun away from Harkin, but he grabbed it first and aimed it at her. "You broke my nose, you bitch." He muffled behind his hand as he still kept his nose covered.

Despite being on the wrong end of the barrel, Andromeda spat, "I'll break more than that..."

She then heard the click of an assault rifle being aimed at her, which made her heart stop. She looked back to see the Batarians standing behind her with their weapons drawn. She was now in a pickle…in between loaded weapons and unarmed herself.

"Get her out of here already….I need to leave." Harkin motioned quickly with his gun.

"Harkin, you sick son of a bitch…when I-" Andromeda began but then felt a hard impact against the side of her head as the butt one of the Batarian assault rifles slammed against her. Seconds later, her world turned to black.

7


	4. Chapter 4

The jolt from the ship's landing made Andromeda become more alert. Darkness was still around her and she wasn't too sure how long she had been out or was even out at all? She really didn't know where she was or if anyone was in the room with her? She tried to move her hands to position herself only to realize that they were chained together. Hearing footsteps, Andromeda slowly rose up from where she was and tried to support herself against the room's wall. She had to keep whoever was outside in front of her…the throbbing pain on the back of her head reminded her of her last mistake.

The door slid open and light poured inside quickly causing Andromeda to protectively shield her eyes with her hands as best as she could to keep the new light from damaging her retinas. There was a blurry figure in front of her but she recognized the voice all too well. "You. Outside. Now." The order from the Batarian Blue Sun Merc was short and to the point.

"Where am I?" Andromeda asked, squinting from the painful light to try to see what was on the other side of the door. For all she knew, they were going to kill her for some sadistic reason as soon as she crossed through, and if that was the case, then she was determined to go down fighting. She knew of the past that the humans had with the Batarians…..neither species liked the other and for very violent reasons.

Impatiently, the Batarian rushed in and grabbed her raised arm roughly, jerking her forward, almost causing her to fall. The light still hurt her deprived eyes and all she could was to stumble blindly. After a few feet outside the ship, the Batarian let her go and she could hear him talking to the other. She remained still and slowly opened her eyes, hoping they were able to adjust more. Her vision was getting better. The area didn't look familiar at all. They seemed to be at some port…but where? The hallway was very dirty and the windows were dim. The light of the place outside seemed to match the inside. It was nothing compared to the Citadel. She was beginning to miss the artificial sunlight and sky.

"Walk." The second Batarian pushed her forward as they escorted her down the hallway through another door that led to a more open area.

"What is this place?" Andromeda looked around at the tall dark structures. There was a larger building up ahead that seemed to have the most lights. There were several armed guards outside and a line of ordinary people standing at the bottom of the steps. The large sloth like creature known as the Elcor stood in front of the line with its massive trunk like legs. To the right from her was a door that had a sign reading ,"Apartments. Marketplace."

"Omega." The Blue Sun Merc almost seemed to sigh happily. "The best place out in the Traverse."

"Yeah, as long as you don't piss off Aria," The second one chimed in and the two laughed at their inside joke.

Moving past the line, the Batarians walked with Andromeda at their side to bypass the Elcor. For a slow moving alien, the Elcor seemed to be right up on top of them in no time, blocking their path. "Courteously, stay in line." The Elcor spoke slowly.

Andromeda glanced around to gather her surroundings, trying to determine when was the best time to try to escape from her captives. There were too many armed guards in the area, but if she managed to escape, where would she go? She knew nothing of this place. "We have a slave to show Aria." The merc said as he grabbed Andromeda's arm, pulling her forward.

"Politely, Aria doesn't need any more slaves. Have a pleasant day."

"Look, this one is rare!" The Batarian shouted in frustration as he tried to look past the Elcor at the building's entrance. "We got her from the Citadel and she's a human!"

"Unimpressed, what's so good about humans?" The Elcor asked.

Unsure on where this conversation was going to go, Andromeda looked behind her at the disgruntled crowd in the line. She knew they were not too happy about the Batarians trying to barge their way in after they had been standing there waiting. Andromeda assumed by the crowd's physical appearance, that the place they were trying to get into was some sort of club. This place was much bigger than Chora's Den and she was not accustomed to a line and having to wait until you were cleared by the owner to enter. She assumed that this Aria person that they kept referring to was someone who had some sort of great importance in this place.

Getting nowhere with the Elcor, the Batarian Blue Sun moved around to catch the attention of one of the guards who was a fellow Batarian. "You, come here."

"What is it?" The guard grumbled as he walked down to where the commotion was.

"Impatiently, radio inside. Ask them if Aria wants another slave." The Elcor said to the guard.

The guard nodded and turned to the side as he pressed his hand up to his communicator and talked. Andromeda really couldn't hear what was being said. Seconds later, the guard motioned to the club's door with his finger. "Aria wants to see the merchandise, but only one of you goes in and make it fast."

"Inside, human." The Blue Sun Batarian pushed Andromeda once again as he took charge of the situation. As she walked inside, she could hear the shouts of the unpleasant crowd in line from being skipped. The slow baritone voice of the Elcor trailed off in the distance when Andromeda heard the door to the club close behind her.

The hallway that led from the main entrance door to the actual club was glamorous than Chora's Den by itself! Artificial flames flickered the top of the sides as fluorescent purple lightening could be seen all around. Several of the patrons were lounging around on cushy sofas against the walls involved in conversation. In illuminated letters at the door read "AFTERLIFE."

Once inside, Andromeda could see the club's splendor. There were at least three different bars with two bartenders at each one. The guests were seated all around the club: Near the bars or at several private tables. Several Asari dancers who wore similar outfits like Chora's Den angelically moved their bodies in provocative positions on the dance floor that was settled upon the main bars' top: The center stage of the club.

The Blue Sun Merc continuously pushed Andromeda to keep her walking. He was in no mood to relax and enjoy the sights it seemed. He led her up a small incline past another armed Batarian guard near the club's highest platform. The platform was surrounded by a couple of guards and an Asari with deep purple skin tone. She was lounging on a couch in conversation with a Krogan who didn't seem to be too happy being there. The Krogan looked to be much older than Wrex and wore a casual outfit with a blue and white kerchief tied around his neck.

The Asari looked over and she quickly became quiet. An expression of displeasure filled her face as her cold eyes gazed over Andromeda. "Something you want?" She was clearly speaking to the Batarian that accompanied her.

"Brought you another one, Aria. I know you will be happy with her." The slave trader began his sales pitch.

Aria was clearly unimpressed. "Doubt it. I thought you were going to bring me something worth my while, Chevak. Clearly not." She waved him off with her hand and her head turned to gaze down at the patrons who were dancing along with the club's musical rhythms.

Flabbergasted, Chevak stepped forward in protest. "Sh-she's very good, Aria and I can make you a deal!" Desperation filled his voice.

"Occupation?" Aria slowly turned her focus back to him.

"Dancer and she's good. Found her on the Citadel. She's a rarity." The Batarian began to redeem his composure.

Andromeda's eyes became wide by the trader's words. "Liar! I'm from C-Sec! You kidnapped me!" Frantically, she rushed forward towards Aria for salvation from her predicament. "This is against the law! You have to get me back!"

Growling in anger, Chevak grabbed Andromeda roughly by the arms, jerking her back. She struggled as hard as she could from his grip. Aria smirked, her lips cracking, then she began to laugh. "Law? Clearly, you do not know where you are at. This is Omega, there are _no_ laws."

Dread hitting her, she caught the Batarian by surprise and broke free. Turning around, she punched him as hard as she could, knocking him back a few feet in retaliation. In shock and embarrassment that a mere female human was able to take him by surprise, Chevak growled even louder as he lashed out forward and smacked Andromeda as hard as he could, knocking her to the floor. Andromeda groaned in pain as her face stung. The Batarian spat down on her form, all four eyes glaring hard. "You humans need to know your place."

Finally breaking his silence, the Krogan laughed as he looked on. "The human female has a quad on her. She could be my krant, I like her."

Defeated, Chevak leaned down and grabbed Andromeda by the hair to pull her up. "Let's go, I'll find some value on you even if it means feeding you to Vorcha."

"Wait." Aria called out to him as she stayed where she was seated on the couch. "She amuses Patriarch so I will pay you half. She can keep him company down in the lower section." She nodded to her guard and then waved the merc away again.

A bit sour that he was only getting half and ended up losing profit, the Batarian silently agreed to the offer and held out his hand for the guard to pay him. Once the creds were in his hand, he released Andromeda and stormed off.

Wiping the blood off her lip from the hit, Andromeda felt the roots of her hair stinging in pain from where he grabbed her. She turned to look at Aria, wondering what would happen next. Aria stretched back out on the couch and gave the young woman a huge smile. "Welcome to Omega. There's only one rule here so you better learn it fast."

"What's that?"

"Don't fuck with me."


	5. Chapter 5

"Cut on rations tonight, that should make him talk for sure." Garrus overheard Captain Bailey bellow across from where he was sitting at his desk to the officer coming out of the interrogation room.

The Turian cocked his head in disbelief as he looked over at the confused officer who hesitated before re-entering the room. "That's pretty extreme, Captain….I'm impressed," A smile spread across Garrus' face as he refocused his attention back to the older gentleman in front of him.

"Red sand is being distributed on my station…..I don't want this stuff hitting the younger generation…God knows what will happen to 'em." Bailey finally looked up at Garrus. "Is there some reason you are here….or are you trying to suggest that you do not like my interrogation methods?"

"C-Sec really has changed…"

Captain Bailey stared at Garrus for a moment and then smiled as a glimmer hit his eye. "I remember you….Vakarian…heh you sure knew how to piss off your superiors back then. I just wish I had you on the force now. I need good bodies like you."

"Forgive me, Captain, have you been reading up on me?"

"A little…when I started recruiting and going through the databases. One hell of a C-Sec officer…some of the veterans definitely talk about you….well them and Officer Kryek…" The older man's voice trailed off at the latter.

"Officer Kryek is the person I need to see." Garrus replied as he remembered on why he managed to take a break from his Spectre training and return to the station. Every so often he would receive a message from Andromeda that came off a communications buoy, but as time progressed, the messages became less frequent and finally they stopped. He needed to know why.

"Son…you haven't been on this station for awhile have you?" Captain Bailey turned off his monitor as if to give the visiting Turian his full attention. "Officer Kryek went missing a few months back…and nobody's talking….not even the local thugs. It's like she's not even on this station anymore."

"Impossible!" Garrus' voice rose as he slammed his fist on the desk, just barely missing the state of the art monitor screen. "She has to be on this station….are you even trying to look for her?"

"I checked the commercial departures…no sign of her. I assigned several officers to do a perimeter scan…veterans…" Bailey emphasized the last word before Garrus had a moment to object that he was using rookie officers. "I even staked out a few hot spots…like I said nobody is talking. I have a few officers still investigating her disappearance but I couldn't continue the full out search….too much man power.

"Crap…" Garrus snapped back. "I would like to personally review the current investigating officers' reports myself."

"I can't let you do that. The files are confidential….we already have been having minor security breaches."

"I was wrong…C-Sec hasn't changed! " Garrus growled.

There were several murmurs from a crowd that was forming outside the station from passerby's commuting back and forth to their destinations. Bailey eyed the crowd with annoyance and stood up from his desk, slamming his hand down. "We _are_ trying everything we can. This is a C-Sec matter…so that is all the information I can give you. If you do not calm down, I will have to confine you."

"Garrus! Oh my God! It's you!" A female voice cried from the crowd. Both the captain and the Turian turned their heads to see Jenna emerging from the crowd with a look of shock and sadness on her face.

"Jenna! What the hell is going on?" Garrus demanded as she approached.

"Come with me, Garrus." Jenna motioned him away from the station.

The Turian reached out and grabbed her arm tightly, keeping her from walking out. "_Now_."

Jenna uncomfortably looked at the crowd then at Captain Bailey who had a confused yet displeased look on his face. Through clenched teeth she replied, "Trust me…"

Not even giving another word to the older man, Garrus followed Jenna away from the scene.

After realizing that they were far enough away from everyone's attention, Garrus pulled at Jenna's arm once more and directed her towards a hallway away from prying eyes. "Talk now, Jenna. I'm not playing," He demanded.

"Garrus…it's true…Andromeda just disappeared one day…" Jenna choked up.

"Jenna….last time you helped her 'disappear'. Why'd she run this time?"

"It wasn't me, Garrus!" Jenna shouted back angrily in defense through hot tears. "I came by her apartment one afternoon before my shift at Dark Star and she was just gone. There were nothing out of the ordinary. I went by C-Sec and Captain Bailey said she didn't check in."

Garrus glanced out with his hawk like eyes to watch the crowd for a moment as if he was in deep thought. "The Captain may be right….she might not be on this station anymore…was she in any trouble before she disappeared?"

"No…not that I know of." Jenna watched him, trying to read his mind at what he was thinking.

"I need access to those files….." He muttered and then looked back at the red haired woman. "You still work for C-Sec?"

"They have me undercover temporarily to make sure there's nothing going on at Dark Star. Red Sand has been passing throughout the station recently and C-Sec is trying to trace the source."

"I need you to get the information on what ships left the station during the time she disappeared…and anything else you can gather upon C-Sec's investigation."

Jenna's jaw nearly dropped hearing his sudden request. "Garrus, are you crazy? I cannot get access to that!" She protested loudly.

Afraid of being heard, Garrus quickly grabbed her arm roughly once more and squeezed to quiet her. "Andromeda is out there, Jenna and you are going to just leave her to die?"

Tearing up more from the fear of losing her friend forever and the pain from the vice on her arm, Jenna whimpered, "H-How am I going to get what you need?"

"After all those years of spying on Fist…and you don't know how to get information?" Garrus shook his head as he stepped out of the alley to disengage from their conversation. "Just use your imagination. "

Stepping out, following him, Jenna nodded in acknowledgement to herself. "Fine…meet me in a couple of hours at the Orbital Lounge. I'll see what I can do."

"I'll be waiting." Garrus looked beyond the crowd at the other end of the Zakera Ward and proceeded to walk straight.

"Asshole…"Jenna mumbled, rubbing her sore and bruised arm.

"I heard that…" Garrus called back nonchalantly.

Three empty glasses stood on the table and Harkin was working on the fourth as he sat behind his table in the Orbital Lounge that evening. Usually he would complain about the creds that he had to spend on one lousy drink at the Citadel's newest bar, but after the huge payoff he received from the mercs, he decided to get his money worth. "Payback sure is sweet…" Harkin chuckled to himself in amusement as his thoughts flashed to the time back at Chora's Den when Andromeda kneed him in the groin.

He glanced casually outside the lounge's entrance and thought he saw a familiar form standing there with its back to him. No way! It had to be the booze. Harkin sat up straighter and leaned closer, straining his eyes. He had to be wrong. There was no way that Garrus Vakarian was standing outside the very club he was in! He silently told himself that he was becoming too paranoid of his deed. It was probably some other Turian that resembled Garrus…after all to him, most Turians looked the same. Leaning back in his chair once more, he grabbed the half empty glass and threw back the remaining contents. The cool liquid eased down his throat as a sensation shot through his body and went straight to his head. He groaned and held his head. His blurry eyes looked back out at Garrus…it _was_ him. Becoming accustomed to the new woozy sensation, Harkin relaxed and stared outside. So what if it was Vakarian? It was a coincidence. There was no way that he could pin Andromeda's disappearance on him. He was sure of it.

Glancing around, Garrus spotted Harkin glaring at him from where he sat. Turning his head to the side, he called out, "Some things never change do they, Harkin?"

Scowling at the cocky Turian, Harkin pointed up his middle finger and then motioned to the lounge's server that he wanted another drink to add to his collection of empty glasses. A smirk spread across his lips as he saw the Turian turn his head back away from him. Now the scenario amused him…there Garrus was and he had no idea…the sense of victory became sweeter to his lips than the liquor that he just consumed.

Pivoting around on his foot, Garrus strolled in and took a place at the bar a few tables away from Harkin. He decided while he waited, he would have a drink himself since he didn't have to worry about C-Sec breathing down his neck anymore…plus he thought Harkin would enjoy the company. Just as he gave the bartender his order, he heard Jenna call out his name as she walked inside.

Harkin looked on but try not to make it look too obvious. There was a look of distress upon the red head's face that he used to know at Chora's Den. Now it was too odd to see both her and Garrus at the same time a few months after he sold Andromeda to the mercs….damnit!

"All the ships check out," Jenna went over her results as she took a seat next to the Turian, her back to Harkin. "Every one of them had C-Sec clearance to board and depart from the station. Most of them were regular merchants…nothing out of the usual."

Garrus took a sip as he listened. "Nothing at all?" He spat bitterly in frustration.

"Well…there was one." Jenna's voice rose a little from the excitement. "It seemed kind of odd even to me. The flight pattern of one of the regular merchants that usually leaves here to go to Noveria, went to the Terminus Systems instead."

"Omega…" Garrus replied, his jaw clenched as he stared out at nothing in particular. He tightened his fingers around his glass and consumed the last of the liquid. Having the bartender scan his cred chit, he rose up from his seat to leave the lounge.

"Wait, Garrus!" Jenna objected as she sprung up quickly to catch him. "How do you know she's even on Omega?"

Now clearly overhearing the conversation, Harkin nearly choked on his beverage. How did Garrus figure it out so quickly? Still…he didn't know _who_ was the one that got her to Omega. "Omega doesn't frequently have ships come to Council Space…it's too coincidental that one was here the same time Andromeda disappeared. I'll continue the investigation there."

"Omega is not safe…" Jenna warned as she grabbed his arm lightly. "What if you're wrong?"

"I'm fed up with the bureaucratic crap on this station anyway….I wouldn't mind the vacation."


	6. Chapter 6

"Be sure to come to the Aria's Night of Enchantment…. There's no telling how far these girls will go." A woman's voice seductively said over the PA system as Garrus strolled the market place on Omega. He knew better than to walk around in full battle armor, so instead he fitted himself with the standard casual outfit that Turians wore. The material looked like it had seen better days: It was torn in several places. The color was mostly black with a hint of red in some places that button across his chest. On top of his head, he wore a black cap to cover his fringe with the straps dangling down on each side. He knew he would stand out in his battle gear or his usual casual outfit. The battle gear would present a message that he was up to no good…and the latter would pick him out as an easy target to thieves or murderers. If he wanted to get into Omega for this…he had to fit the part…and he hated it. The smell of the outfit alone, which he purchased from a ship merchant, seemed to be stronger than the Vorcha standing along the walls, eyeing him carefully. The humanoid bat faced creatures with sharp fangs, hissed amongst themselves and he almost could see saliva dripping from their teeth. He knew they were only trying to intimidate him, but still he didn't want to wind up as their dinner.

While he waited for his friend that he summoned to join him on his quest, he decided he would survey the area and see if he could pick up anything from the locals. If he had any tips before his friend, Sidonis, arrived, that would make things much easier for them both. At least then he would have a plan.

As he rounded the corner, his eyes instantly fell upon two figures in Blue Suns mercenary outfits kicking at an unknown being in front of them. One of the Blue Suns was a Batarian, the typical species of the group, and the second was a human. Garrus found it ironic that despite their checkered past, the Batarian and the Human were working together…at least for now. Judging by their raised voices and their senseless beating of the person in front of them, he figured this was a shakedown…or some sadistic way to kill time. As his blue eyes lingered on, Garrus felt the blood boil in his veins. He almost forgotten how lawless Omega really was.

"Taran, you haven't been payin your dues to the Suns…now quit holdin out!" The Batarian merc barked at his victim. As he sidestepped, Garrus realized that their helpless prey was another Batarian. This enraged Garrus even more…due to greed; the Batarian would turn his back against fellow kin.

"Please…" Taran pleaded as he weakly held up his right hand to try to shield the assault. He was trying his best to hold his body with his other arm from the pain. "I...don't have any creds on me….when I get some more…I promise I'll pay you…Harod has been killin my sales."

"What a lame excuse!" The human merc kicked the Batarian as hard as he could completely knocking the air out of Taran. "We know you've been holding out!"

"No…." Taran gasped for breath as he coughed hard. The last kick probably broke a few ribs, Garrus noted as he continued to watch on. "Please…"

"Exploiting the weak…this makes me sick…." Garrus seethed as he bawled up his fists to confront the two mercs. If he was going to wait on Sidonis, at least he would enjoy beating the crap out of them.

Suddenly he felt someone bump into him. Garrus whirled around to confront the intruder, to only realize it was Sidonis who didn't seem to recognize him all too well. The fellow Turian placed his arm across Garrus' back as he stumbled a bit. "Hey, there you are! What you doing down here? Let's go up and find some Asari."

Clearly to him, his friend was intoxicated, but why and how long was he on Omega? His last transmission stated that he was at least a few hours before Garrus' arrival. "I think you better sit down for a moment…" Garrus encouraged as he tried to steady his old companion.

"Push off!" Sidonis snapped back as he quickly jerked away. "I'm fine. I came here with lots of creds and I plan on spendin them!"

Garrus noticed that the two mercs clearly could overhear his friend and the two silently nodded their heads as they moved away from Taran to approach the two newcomers. "Perfect…" Garrus muttered under his breath.

"First time on Omega?" One of the mercs asked.

"Oh yeah! Having the time of my life!" Sidonis smiled. Garrus watched appalled on what was unfolding in front of him. There he was, hoping to find someone that he entrusted with his life to locate Andromeda, but instead his friend was in a drunken state and obviously about to be duped by the Blue Suns.

"You want a good time? We can find you one." The human merc grinned from ear to ear.

"Of course you will need to pay the standard first time fee….now." The Batarian merc added, his voice becoming more serious.

"Of course…how much? Five hundred is all I got right now…" Sidonis stumbled into his pockets to take out a cred chit.

The human chuckled and swiped the chit quickly before Sidonis had a chance to state another word. "Thanks, pal."

"You Batarians are into slaves aren't ya? Can you get me one?" Sidonis asked.

"_Sidonis, you clever bastard_…" Garrus smirked inwardly listening in. This was all a charade to gather information. It was working…

"If you want a slave talk to Aria…that is if she sees you…" The Batarian laughed as he and his comrade left the two Turians with their new found wealth.

When they were clear from view, Garrus shook his head and laughed at his friend. "Leave it up to you for an entrance….but you do realize that they walked away with your cred chit."

"I got information didn't I and probably faster than you would." Sidonis smirked.

When the two reached topside once again from the lower markets of Omega, they came upon the super structure in front of the ports known as Afterlife. It was the landmark for Omega and probably the toughest place to get into. Sometimes you would stand outside for hours….and sometimes for minutes…it all depended upon the Elcor bouncer. Many locals tried to get into the club, but most of the time the prestigious did. After all, they were the ones to spend the majority of the money.

Garrus eyed the line of locals at the front of the club then diverted his eyes upwards to the flashing lights and animation of Asari dancing on the side of the building. Sidonis rejoined his friend, this time in a more formal outfit than found on Omega, but the standard on the Citadel. It was a multicolored full piece suit that was tight fitting. Clearly now…he stood out and Garrus wanted exactly that. "So what's the plan, Garrus?" Sidonis' eyes joined Garrus'.

"Go inside and see what you can find out, I'm going to hit up some of the locals and follow up on my old C-Sec contacts. I have a feeling that this won't be easy….at least it will be fun."

"Garrus….damnit. Why do you always have to say that?" A bit of dread hit his friend's voice.

"Just like old times on Palaven…" Garrus chuckled, remembering a past memory.

"You owe me big…" Sidonis refocused his attention to the line outside the club. "You know the Asari all look alike…what she look like? Blue skin? Green? Purple?"

"Human." Garrus corrected.

"You want to run that by me again?" Sidonis now looked directly at his friend in disbelief.

"It's a long story…she's a human. Brown hair…uh…" Garrus stopped having trouble on how else to describe her. He wasn't too keen on human anatomy. "Normal looking…name's Andromeda…she may be a dancer. Just mention Chora's Den and the time that I carried her out of there after giving my whole week's paycheck to the lousy bouncer."

"You know…when this is over…you _really_ will have to tell me that long story." Sidonis marched out to join the line.

Sidonis' wait in life was shorter than he expected and he probably figured it was because of the outfit that he was wearing. The Elcor must have assumed that he planned on dropping a lot of creds that evening and it would please the Queen of Omega: Aria T'Loak. Besides, if word got out that the bouncer didn't let him in given his assumed status, it would have cost the bouncer's job or worse.

"Inside…" The Batarian doorman motioned with his armed assault rifle as the doors to the club whished open. Giving a silent head gesture, Sidonis proceeded forward, passing the Batarian and into the club.

The soft techno beat gave the club a gentle vibration that went throughout his entire body as he entered. The noise of people talking happily amongst themselves or the glasses clanging at the bar enticed Sidonis to sit down and have a drink, but he had to keep centered. His friend was depending upon him and by the gods, he wouldn't let him down.

All around him he saw mostly fellow Turians, Batarians, Salarians, Asari and even a few Krogan! There were a few humans but none matching Garrus' description, even if it was a little vague. He knew if he went from one human female to the next asking for Andromeda, it may cause a scene. For now, he would be patient and see his options before making any moves. His query made him travel down to the lower part of the Afterlife club. Several mercs standing outside the main club watched cautiously till they realized he wasn't looking for them and then continued their conversations.

The lower part of Afterlife had a faster rhythm of beat and the place almost seemed deserted compared to the upper level! More humans were found on this level and they actually outnumbered the other alien species. Was this place segregating between the galaxy's newcomers or was it just coincidence? His eyes focused to the smaller bar in the center of the area. Behind the bar was the bartender, a Batarian, who didn't look too happy at all to be there or for his arrival. Next to him was a young woman in a server's outfit pouring a drink for another Turian that sat down at the end. Sidonis stepped closer to observe the young woman and realized that so far she matched Garrus' description…but he had to be sure…and had to do it discreetly.

"You want a drink or what?" The Batarian snarled out, catching Sidonis off guard. He almost forgot how long he stood there in his thoughts.

Seeing the girl moving down to the other end of the bar to clean some glasses, he decided to try his luck there. Motioning to the bar's end with his head at the disgruntled bartender, he took a seat with the girl's back to him. The young female had brown hair down to her mid back with a pale soft body. On her was a dark red outfit that was somewhat revealing but unlike the Asari dancers. Most of the time, he would find Asari attractive in those garments….humans he wasn't too sure. Ever since the First Contact War, he wasn't too sure on what to think about humans? To him, they were like the Salarians: intelligent but not very attractive. However, there were some species including his own that did have a fetish for humans. Catching a glimpse over at the bartender to notice that he took his focus off Sidonis and now was in conversation with the Turian on the other end, Sidonis cleared his throat rudely to catch the girl's attention. "I'm waitin to be served already."

"Oh, sorry." The young woman stammered in embarrassment as she quickly placed down the glasses, turning on her feet to look at him. "What can I get for you?"

"The best Turian ale…and make sure it is _for _Turians…I don't want your species tryin to kill me again." Sidonis snapped back angrily as he shot out his hand to accept the drink impatiently.

Once he had the glass in his hand, he threw back the contents and slammed the glass back down, wiping his mouth with a satisfied smile. "Not bad…give me another." As the young woman obliged, Sidonis looked on, "So…you new here? I was on this station a few months ago and didn't see you."

The young woman seemed to be caught off guard by the question and Sidonis noted that she eyed the Batarian bartender cautiously before choosing her words carefully. "Yeah…just arrived a few months ago."

Sidonis acknowledged her response with a head curtsy before swallowing his second glass of ale. "Damn this stuff is the best…you know I travel all the way from the Citadel to get this. Best Turian Ale in the whole damn Terminus! The Council Space has nothin' on it! Gimme me anotha." Sidonis slammed the glass back down and his speech slurred at the latter part of his sentence. Clearly this was an act, but Sidonis knew he had to be careful on how much alcohol he took in…he knew his limit.

"You were on the Citadel?" The server asked as she refilled his glass, her voice was softer.

"Ya…came in on a merchant ship. You know…you look familiar." Sidonis this time eyed his glass but paused on drinking any. He lifted his groggy head at the brown haired woman. "You look like someone I saw once at Chora's Den." The words made the young female tense up and he watched her eyes wander so he pressed on. "One time…I heard there was this girl…a server I think and a C-Sec officer named Garrus carried her off." Sidonis picked up the drink and sipped a little and laughed with his mouth still on the glass. "Never saw her again."

The woman tilted her head in curiosity as she looked at the drunken Turian. Sidonis played his cards right…this _was_ Andromeda. He glanced down at the other end of the bar to see the Batarian bartender still not interested in their conversation so he decided to take more risks. "I'm Sidonis…a friend of Garrus." Sidonis quickly blurted out in a hush tone. "He tracked you here…what's going on?"

Before the woman could reply, a male voice called across a few tables away. "Hey, I need another drink over here!" Sidonis looked over his shoulder to see it was a human male Eclipse merc who seemed to be joined by three other human Eclipse mercs. Their table was littered with empty glasses and their loud laughter almost seemed to drown out the techno music.

"I will be with you in a sec!" Andromeda shouted back politely and then desperately gauged her attention back to Sidonis. Without even worrying about the risks, she urgently spoke out, "I'm a slave owned by Aria…I was sold by the Blue Suns Batarians."

Before she could finish anymore, the bartender quickly grabbed her arm roughly jerking her away from Sidonis. "Get back to work. Aria doesn't keep you human filth around to talk." The Batarian shoved her forward in the direction of the Eclipse merc table.

"Hey, buddy, I was talkin to her!" Sidonis yelled back in his false drunken state.

"You want to talk? Talk to Aria." The Batarian bartender motioned him off.

Sidonis held up his hand, losing the battle and knowing that he had all the information that he needed. It was too dangerous to try to take Andromeda from the club. Not when she belonged to Aria…and he already knew Omega's number one rule. Tossing a few creds down onto the table to pay off his tab and the tip which he figured the bartender would collect, Sidonis stumbled out of the club, giving the young woman one last look.

6


	7. Chapter 7

Garrus quietly surveyed the local markets of Omega as he strolled through casually. To lessen suspicion, he would stop from time to time as if to examine a weapon or item at one of the vendor's kiosks. He was fairly certain that the locals were watching him as much as he was watching them. Distrust was fairly common on Omega and there was no such thing as random act of violence. Everyone had a reason to kill the other: creds, drugs, sex. There was no law…just as long as you didn't piss off the Pirate Queen herself: Aria T'Loak.

A Batarian at a local Batarian vendor's booth captured Garrus' attention. He was thumbing through the kiosk as if he was looking for something quite particular. Normally the shopper would examine the kiosk, act like they were not interested, until they obtained the vendor's eye. That was how negotiations began. Obviously this Batarian customer was bad at negotiations or he simply didn't care. As Garrus inched closer, he could hear the Batarian muttering under his breath as he continued to skim through the console's data base in frustration. His actions certainly attracted the vendor, but in the wrong way. The vendor, a fellow Batarian, blinked all four eyes in bewilderment and cautiously stepped forward. "Findin anything you like?"

"Yeah, I need a gun." The Batarian's eyes never leaving the console.

The vendor chuckled, "You got any creds?"

Judging by the shopper's body language while he searched, Garrus noted that this Batarian was planning more than just purchase a gun to walk around with. "Are you sure you know how to fire a gun?" He asked as he stepped forward to make himself present.

"What the hell do you want?" The four eyed snapped back defensively.

"Old friends…" Garrus explained to the questioning vendor, waving him away for the moment. The vendor shrugged and walked off to the other side of his shop to finish conducting his inventory.

"I don't know you…" The Batarian growled as he finally turned around to glare at his interrupting visitor. "So unless you're a Blue Suns mercenary then leave me alone…"

Just the cue that Garrus was waiting for. "Nice Omni Tool…an upgrade version than the ones I have seen. " He pointed down to the device on the Batarian's right arm.

"Look, do you want something?"

"A chance to get back at the Suns…and a skillful technician will be beneficial to my team." Garrus lowered his voice making sure that no one around could hear their conversation.

The Batarian tilted his head as if he was pondering the suggestion. "I'm in…those bastards killed one of my long life friends a few days ago…that's all I'm saying. No names either…"

"Just the way I like it." Garrus nodded his head in acceptance.

Turning his avian head, Garrus saw Sidonis approaching him with a look filled with concern and satisfaction. "Found her."

Motioning his head towards the stairwell that led to one of the lower districts of Omega, Garrus silently led Sidonis and their squad mate away from prying ears and eyes. Information was a double edged sword on the asteroid station: Valuable and deadly. The more you knew, the more importance you had, but that didn't mean that someone could extract the information from you….by any means necessary. However, with little involvement with Aria or Merc activity, Garrus didn't think Sidonis would be tailed from the club, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

After several twists and turns through darkened corridors, Garrus was finally satisfied that they were alone. "What did you find?" He first spoke to break the uncomfortable silence.

"She's at the club…lower level. Sold by the Blue Suns as a slave to Aria herself." Sidonis reported.

"Fun." Garrus was already pondering Andromeda's escape plan.

"You mean suicidal. The extraction isn't going to work…Aria will come after us."

Garrus knew that Sidonis was partially right in his argument. Everyone knew Omega's number one rule and that rule did hold a lot of power and fear behind it. Aria most certainly paid for Andromeda which meant if she was taken then it would be like stealing creds from Aria. The entire club was poised with Aria's men, mostly Krogan. If he walked in and simply asked the Pirate Queen to buy Andromeda back, it would perk the Asari's interest. It would be quite odd that a random Turian that she never met walk in and offer to buy a slave from her…a human to top it off. The act would increase Andromeda's value to an amount that Garrus could never afford and make Aria believe that Andromeda had some information behind her. Garrus of course would deny this and would in fact be telling the truth, but she would not listen and her "signature" interrogations would be conducted. Still there had to be some way… "You mean the extraction _from the club _isn't going to work."

"What do you mean?" Sidonis questioned. With the Batarian present, he assumed already that it would be foolish to release his or Garrus' name to a new individual. Even if he was on their side.

Before replying, Garrus led them back up to the upper level and stood outside the club. His beady eyes stared at the illuminated marvel before them . "For now, she's safer than she'll ever be. " He lingered on the words. He was saying it not to persuade them to sit and do nothing, but for himself. It was foolish to believe anyone was "safe" on Omega even under the ownership of Aria T'Loak. "We'll conduct surveillance…see where Aria keeps her outside the club…maybe en route to the club…." He began to think of a plan already, the last of his words just barely out loud.

"I thought this was going to be payback against the Suns…" The Batarian finally spoke up in a low voice.

Garrus turned his attention down near the door that led to the apartments to see two Vorcha, obviously part of the Blood Pack with their skull tattoos, scaring a male human coming out of the complex. "Breaaaaak you", One of the Vorcha hissed as the other engulfed in laughter. The man whimpered as he pressed himself against the wall to go around the two bat like creatures and then took off running past Garrus and his team. Sinister laughter filled the air as the Vorcha turned to continue their way to their unknown destination.

"Not just payback against the Suns..." Garrus glared at the two leaving. "This injustice sickens me…I might as well enjoy myself."

Sensing his friend's intention already, Sidonis quickly pulled away from the Batarian to engage in a private conversation. "Garrus, this isn't the Citadel? This is Omega! It will be suicide to take on all the mercenaries." He whispered harshly.

"I have a comrade from C-Sec joining us in a few hours…" Garrus assured calmly. "I'm sure he will agree with me. You don't have to stay here, Sidonis."

Glancing back at the club, Sidonis sighed hard. "No, Garrus, I promised that I'll stick with you till the end….even if it means going through hell. I just didn't realize that you would bring hell so quick upon me. "

"So what do we do now?" The Batarian grunted as he looked around at the makeshift team that Garrus and Sidonis recruited after being on Omega for a mere twelve hours. The team consisted of an EX-Special Tasks Group Salarian who lost his brother during a Vorcha Raid, a fellow C-Sec Turian who was becoming bored of all the laws and regulations on the Citadel, and a handful of free-lancers mixed of Humans, Turians and Batarians who were out for simply a good time and easy creds . All eyes looked over at Garrus, their presumed leader of the squad, after the Batarian tech expert asked his question.

"Now…we make things interesting." Garrus smiled.

3


	8. Chapter 8

Andromeda stared across at the blank wall in front of her. The only light inside her small one bedroom apartment came from a window that was near the station's interior illumination. Aria housed Andromeda along with her other dancers in one of the private districts that had two hired guards standing outside the complex. Andromeda, however, didn't have the luxury of taking a daily stroll through the marketplace like everyone else. If she wasn't at the club, she was stuck in her apartment. Every day for her shift she was escorted by two heavily armored Krogan. This meant her chance of slipping out of Aria's clutches were dim.

It had been two weeks since she met the strange Turian, Sidonis, in the Afterlife, claiming to be a friend of Garrus'. In the beginning, she was hoping her rescue would come swift, but as the days turned into weeks, she was losing faith. Perhaps Garrus left Omega to cut his losses? Maybe Sidonis was a sick bastard Turian who simply played into her feelings? Then again, how come he knew so much about her at Chora's Den?

Standing up, she eyed the front door. She knew it wasn't locked, but by judging the armed guards outside, Aria must have assumed there was no hope of her escaping. She weighed the consequences heavily in her head. She had to chance it.

Tiptoeing down the front steps, she paused as she gazed further down at the guard station. Both guards, Turian, were armed with a standard issued assault rifle with their back to her. They assumed that they had to keep an eye out on unwanted visitors more than someone trying to escape. Standing perfectly still, she watched, trying to stay out of sight. Then she saw her chance…

A Batarian, armed as well, approached the two Turians, and proceeded to engage in a conversation. This seemed to draw their attention away as they stepped to the side. Stepping forward, Andromeda quietly approached, trying to listen in on their conversation. "You really think he's goin to hit here?" One of the Turians spoke up.

"I don't know. He won't if he knows what's good for him. The mercs want him dead…but Aria's stayin out of it for now." The Batarian replied.

"Ya, my brother's with the Suns. He said Archangel hit their entire shipment last night. Lost a lot of goods. " The second guard added.

"If Aria wants him dead too, tell her that will cost extra, Sanak." Andromeda heard the first Turian order as she eased up closer….they were a few feet away and luckily their backs were turned to her. She just hoped they didn't look back…

"She's not hiring you to freelance!" Sanak growled. "She just wants to make sure that Archangel isn't stupid and comes after her! I think he is forgetting where he's at." All four of his eyes looked away and then caught sight of Andromeda right across from them. "Get her!"

Andromeda's heart nearly stopped when she saw the look of surprise and anger on the four eyes' face. It was too late now to back out. Pushing her muscles to move, she stumbled forward as she ran as fast as she could. She could hear the Turians yelling after her and the Batarian ordering them not to shoot her. Not looking back, her blue eyes looked straight ahead and she pumped her legs harder. She _had_ to make it far as she could. The sound of footsteps got closer and she began to think she misjudged on just how fast a Turian or a Batarian could run.

Making it to the corner, she sidestepped to cut time and suddenly felt the air knocked out of her. There was a hard impact against her body and she crashed onto the ground. Coughing, she clutched her abdomen as her body curled up to catch her breath. Her lungs burning as she tried to breathe. Tears from the pain filled her eyes as she looked up to see one of the Krogan escorts glaring down at her without any remorse. He slowly turned his shotgun around and it was only then she realized that he must have been ready for her and used the butt of his gun to strike her hard in the stomach to immobilize her.

In no time, the Turians and Sanak were on top of her. "Get her!" Sanak bellowed.

Still trying to recuperate from the attack, Andromeda felt the Turians grabbing her arms, jerking her to her feet so now she came face to face with the Krogan. Despite being hunchback, the Krogan towered over her. "Having problems, Sanak?" He snarled. He was joined by the second Krogan.

"Take her." Sanak pointed towards the direction of Afterlife and then shot his head back around to confront the two Turians. "When she returns this evening, I want to make sure that her apartment room is locked."

"Got it." One of the Turians responded as he motioned to the other to follow him back to their posts.

"This way." The Krogan gestured with his head. "Don't try anything."

Not even trying to resist after what had just transpired, Andromeda walked in pace with the Krogan with each of them on either side. She failed…and now her room would be locked. However, that wasn't going to stop her. Like a varren to a cage, she was testing to see what weaknesses there were to exploit. Obviously the complex with its increased security would be a no go and there were too many people at the club. Perhaps she was overlooking her chance with the Krogan. As she proceeded forward to the club, she gazed around at the locals and the vendors, watching the Krogan's reaction to different variables. "Eyes forward." One of the Krogan barked at her, breaking her focus. Sighing sadly in despair, Andromeda decided that she would have to wait a few more days before plotting again.

Up ahead, her blue eyes flashed upon the Batarian preacher who had his normal post on top of cargo crate with a small gathering. As her party neared, she could hear the preacher's words as he spoke. "Soon, the angel of death will be upon us! The end is nigh! You must repent for what you have done or Archangel will kill you!" He pointed to random beings in the crowd. "You! You! And you! Repent! Atone for your sins! Archangel is coming! He will show no mercy! "

"Do you hear this crap?" The Krogan on the right of Andromeda asked the other.

"Ya…that guy will believe anything. Too bad Archangel doesn't shoot him dead already." The left Krogan snickered and the two chortled softly.

"Who is Archangel?" Andromeda curiously asked as she heard their remarks.

"No talking, human." The first Krogan growled as they passed by the group.

Andromeda strained her head to see more of what was going on. A few members of the crowd were on their knees praying over and over that Archangel would protect them and spare their lives. As she turned back around to pass one of the tiny restaurants in the marketplace, Andromeda felt a shiver go down her back. She suddenly felt like someone was watching her. Glancing around, she looked at several of the market's customers but no one seemed to be giving her that much attention. Was someone really watching her or were the Batarian's words getting to her too much?

Garrus slowed his breathing as he slowly shifted his arm just an inch to line more up of an accurate shot. He had taken up his usual post overlooking the marketplace and now it seemed that it was paying off. As soon as Andromeda came into his view, he felt his heart racing, but managed to slow the beats down. When the Krogan entourage passed by the Batarian, they slowed their pace from when they first entered the marketplace which allowed Garrus to keep them more in his scope. He moved his sights from the left Krogan's head to Andromeda to see what she was doing. She appeared to be looking around as if she was looking for someone….Garrus removed his focus and slightly lifted his head to look on. Who was she looking for? Did she really know he was in the area?

Lowering his head down once again to readjust upon his true target, he gently placed his finger on the rifle's trigger, letting it rest there. He couldn't afford to make a mistake. When the Krogan came into view, he planned on taking them out as quick and clean as he could. As he kept his target in his sights as they moved on, he began to rethink his plan. He wanted to shoot so badly….but the outcome would be grim. Krogan were harder to take down even with a head shot. The Krogan were heavy skinned and if the shot didn't hit the brain instantly, which in most cases it wouldn't, the attack would end in disaster. The Krogan would be alert to his presence and double their protection on Andromeda. A firefight in the marketplace would not end well, too many casualties plus who knows how many of Aria's men lurked nearby.

Slowly removing his finger away from the trigger, Garrus clenched his mandible as he watched on. He had to let her go…this time.

Defeated, he slowly scooted away to abandon his position, but stopped when he looked up ahead to see a Blue Suns merc heckling a Quarian merchant. The Quarian appeared to be a male and young. Obviously he didn't want any problems with the merc. Garrus found a new target.

"Please…Harot already takes my customers away! I-I don't want any trouble…" The young Quarian pleaded to the Human. Andromeda overheard the conversation as she passed by with the Krogan.

"Yeah yeah….times are tough…just hand over your forty percent and I'll be on my way." The merc smiled as he held out his hand.

"Are you not going to stop that guy?" Andromeda asked the Krogan dumbfounded. The Krogan replied with only a grunt as they eyed the two for a moment and continued along the way.

Despite the young vendor and the merc being behind her, Andromeda turned her head to watch on and stopped. Before the Krogan had a chance to pull at her to walk, there was the sharp whizzing sound and suddenly the side of the merc's head exploded from a precise hit to the right temple. Blood and brains splattered out as the merc slumped down onto the ground.

"Keelah!" The Quarian scrambled in fear to get away from the dead merc as far as he could, nearly stumbling over the crates in his shop.

Witnessing the horrific event, several customers screamed in fright. Andromeda stood, motionless, her eyes wide from what she just saw. "Where the hell did that come from?" One of the Krogan shouted loudly as powered up his assault rifle, the other joined suit.

"Archangel!" A member of the religious fanatics cried as they looked over from their prayer to see the dead merc's body on the ground. A pool of blood drained from the side of his head. More screams filled the marketplace as people scurried to take shelter, fearing that they would be Archangel's next victim.

"Stay down!" One of the Krogan jerked Andromeda behind him as he kept his reptilian eyes in front of him.

The once bustling market was filled with panic. Andromeda daringly looked around and thought she caught a glimpse of blue armor ducking away from an overlook across in a warehouse. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? As she stared at the warehouse, the sounds of the Krogan ordering each other to find the sniper blended with the Batarian preacher feeding on the crowds' new fears. "He has come! We shall feel his wrath!"


	9. Chapter 9

Garrus slammed his back up against the wall as he rounded the corner in haste. His heart racing as he panted; his breathing echoed inside his helmet. As he tried to listen for the sound of footsteps of someone following him, his blue avian eyes glanced down through his darkened visor to notice the exposure in his armor and blood oozing from an abrasion on his right arm. The bullet managed to punch through his shields and luckily was off. It grazed his upper arm instead of puncturing it.

Glancing up at the sky momentarily to silently thank the spirits for his getaway, he turned his head to the side to risk peering around to see if he had been followed. He tried to listen in for the snarls of Vorcha or the thunderous pound of a heavily armored Krogan approaching, but it was quiet. The attack against Garm ended up being almost suicidal. He located the Blood Pack leader alone outside one of the shipping districts on Omega. He didn't radio in his team and tried to hit the Krogan with a few rifle shots. The Krogan ended up being pretty clever and just as Garrus thought he had the advantage; Garm turned the tables on him and attacked, drawing Garrus out.

Throughout the long drawn out firefight, Garrus finally thought he had the upper hand. Krogan were very deadly at close range….when a Krogan charged, it was practically all over. Garrus continued to keep his distance with sniper shots, since he knew the assault rifle was not accurate enough with long range. But just as he was able to line up to take a shot, the Krogan would fire frantically with his own assault rifle, spraying bullets all over. It was difficult to keep a clean shot. As the Krogan pushed forward, Garrus would continue to change position, keeping the same distance, not daring to let his adversary get too close. The pleasing sound of a click as the Krogan had to reload, made Garrus take the opportunity to switch weapons and unleash his own barrage of bullets. He had to keep the Krogan pinned just in case Garm decided it would be easier to charge instead of reloading his weapon. Seeing that the Krogan was not advancing, Garrus pressed further, but then stopped when he heard the approaching snarls of Vorcha. Sometime during their skirmish, Garm managed to call for reinforcements.

Knowing it was too risky for him to try to attack Garm and the squad of armed Vorcha, Garrus decided to retreat. Garm, on the other hand, wasn't about to let the opportunity of killing Archangel go. In frustration, he and his Vorcha started to pursue Garrus across the station, he taunted Garrus; hoping that his words would penetrate the Turian's leathery skin and armor.

Deciding not to go to his team's makeshift base just yet, Garrus zigzagged throughout the station, keeping out of any crowded streets. The taunting chatter of the Vorcha on his heels made Garrus want to turn around and attack, but the idea would be unwise. Even though it only seemed the Vorcha were behind him, Garm was probably lurking around, waiting for the opportunity to attack. He pumped his legs harder and kept his eyes straight ahead.

Satisfied after glancing around the corner to see no one in sight, Garrus decided to head back to the others, but he would take the long way.

"You didn't radio in…" Sidonis tightened his mandible in aggravation as he watched his injured comrade inject medigel into him.

"Too risky…besides I had Garm right where I wanted him…" Garrus nursed his wound, pleased to know the medigel was already taking the pain away.

"Or where _he_ wanted you. We are a team...G-…" Sidonis stopped himself, remembering not to mention their names since they were not alone in the warehouse. "We are getting over our heads…" He added as he looked away in concern.

"I'm enjoying it…" The Batarian chimed in before Garrus had the opportunity to respond. "Those mercs are finally having some payback." The others casted out their votes in agreement to the four eyed.

"We have some of the best mods now…those merc bastards don't know what hit 'em." One of the humans chuckled as he patted his illegally modified hand gun.

"We have stopped a lot of their illegal shipments of red sand…much more than what I did on C-Sec…" Garrus motioned to the towering crates of the powdered drug in the corner. "Plus…we hit hard with the slavers…" His voice drifted off as if his mind was going to another subject. He refocused his attention to bandaging his wound up.

Shaking his head tiresomely, Sidonis moved closer to his friend. "We hit the mercs pretty hard…isn't that enough?" His tone low and firm. "That last attack you did was too close….we need to get Andromeda and get off this station."

Garrus lifted his head as he stared blankly at the wall across from him, listening to his friend's protest. Sighing, he walked over to one of the warehouse windows and stood to the side to glance out one of the streets below. The street was filled with locals making shady deals, prostitutes and different members of the mercenary gangs. "I didn't even make a dent in this place…." Turning he glanced at each of his team mates for a few seconds. "We'll hit tomorrow."

"Finally some action…it's been days since I haven't shot a merc's head off." A Human Freelancer spoke up as he eagerly waited for his leader's instructions. The other freelancer nodded his head and smiled in agreement.

"Andromeda is too heavily guarded while she's being escorted to the club, so we will have to hit the apartment complex that she's housed in." His eyes looked over at the freelancers. "There will be two hired guards to monitor the traffic in and out of the complex. That's where you come in. I need a distraction." He then shifted his eyes over to the Batarian. "The complex will be locked with an access code…I need you to accompany me."

"You got it." The Batarian smiled.

Garrus then looked over at his friend. "I want you to be lookout. Any sign of trouble…you notify us. The rest of you surround the area and open fire if things go wrong. Try not to take any lethal shots…but do what you can to survive. If I'm killed…" He sighed at the end. "Then get off this station and don't look back." Hearing his team's signs of approval and enthusiasm, the Turian turned his attention to his gear that he brought along and rummaged through the container to find the casual outfit that he had from the Citadel.

Sidonis watched on. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the club...I need to make sure that Andromeda's route will be the same tomorrow from when we last did surveillance. We cannot afford to mess this up."

"It's too dangerous now. The mercs are in that place and if they see a Turian walking around and asking questions, it will be suspicious." Sidonis objected.

"I'm not putting my men's lives at stake for nothing." Garrus snapped back in defense as he walked towards one of the empty rooms to change.

"Keep your guard up, you hear me?"

"This should be quick and painless." Garrus stared up at the club, Afterlife, then dusted off the sleeves of his blue casual outfit that he brought in from the Citadel. It was embroidered with green material. He even managed to stash at least a thousand creds from one of his merc hits. That would get him the cover charge and a generous tip to the doorman. Clearly he was going to look like he had some creds to drop at the club….a perfect ploy.

"I'll wait out here as planned, Garrus…" Sidonis kept his voice down as he stood next to his friend wearing the rougher outfit that Garrus had on the first day they landed in Omega. "I don't see any mercs yet…"

As Garrus walked over to get in line that started from the club's entrance towards the transport station, he passed a Batarian in a Blue Suns getup. The Blue Sun merc eyed him, but not really identifying him as a threat as he relaxed near the transport hub. Garrus, as much as he tried to fight it, couldn't stop himself from sizing up the Batarian as he clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't too sure which Batarian was responsible in capturing Andromeda from the Citadel and bringing her to this hellish place, but he thought for right now, he would make it this one. He walked on past the Batarian and took his spot in the line. It was going to be a very long wait.

Seeing the unknown and badly dressed Turian enter the queue for the club, Cathka, chuckled, noticing that he tightened his fists. As much as the Turian was trying to hide it, he was very tense. Taking a cigarette from his side pants pocket, he inserted it into his mouth and lit it. Cigarettes were engineered to be cancer free, and non-toxic, but the nicotine was still very addicting. He then glanced down where there the Turian came from to see another standing there, looking rather nervous. Inhaling as he watched, Cathka glanced back over to the first Turian and then exhaled, gathering his thoughts.

Looking beyond where Sidonis stood to the other side of the area, he saw his own lookout, standing guard. Cathka motioned with his head to Sidonis then took the cigarette out of his mouth, snuffing it on the ground. Things were about to get very exciting.

The wait inside the club wasn't as long as Garrus expected. He casually strolled through towards his destination but surveyed the area as he went. There weren't many mercs on this level from what he could tell, which made sense. A lot of the mercs were found in the lower level where they could conduct their deals without anyone really paying them much attention. The upper level was the most crowded with the station's local patrons. On the top platform that overlooked the upper level was Aria, the Pirate Queen herself, surrounded by her armed entourage. He could only make out the top of her purple colored fringe as her back was to the main entrance. Obviously, she didn't really seem to care what was going on below her. In the direction that Garrus had to go was a back room with a Blue Suns Batarian merc standing outside. Garrus eyed the merc quickly and then proceeded forward to head to the lower level. He cursed silently when the merc stopped him.

"Know how to shoot?" The Batarian asked as he looked at Garrus.

"That's depending on what's the target." Garrus nonchalantly replied.

The Batarian eyed Garrus' outfit and then chuckled, "Not sure if you're into freelance work…hard to tell with_ that_. But, if you want some creds, go inside." He motioned to the room behind him with his bulb like head.

"What's the job?"

"Taking down Archangel…if you want more information, go inside." The Batarian shortly responded.

Now _this_ was too ironic, being asked by his adversary to take _him_ out. "I have business to attend to, but good luck on catching that bastard." Garrus tilted his head in a polite gesture and then continued his way. He noted to himself that he would have to tell Sidonis about what transpired after he departed the club.

"Believe me…we will." The merc recruiter called out after him, not giving the Turian another thought.

As Garrus made his way to the lower level, the soft techno music of the upper level was drowned out by the dark fast rhythms. The place seemed to be almost vacant with a few scattered tables; most of them occupied by Blue Suns and Eclipse factions. Normally, the competitive mercs rarely were seen side by side, but it seemed for the moment they had a common enemy. Garrus knew that he was heavily surrounded; he was walking into a varren den.

His blue eyes instantly fell upon Andromeda tending to a table of Blue Sun Mercs. Keeping his eyes down to not make eye contact with her, he quickly made his way to the bar and sat down. He didn't plan on having any alcohol, but knowing the predicament he was in, he figured it may be his last.

Keeping her eyes focused on the mercs in front of her, Andromeda vaguely saw she had a new customer enter the bar area, but didn't pay that much attention to him. After handing the drinks off her tray to the mercs, she made her way back over to the bar. "What can I get for you?" She asked the customer as she turned her back to put the tray away.

Garrus smiled as he looked at her from behind, lifting his head up. "What would you recommend?"

The sound of his voice startled her; Andromeda dropped the glass she was cleaning, causing it to shatter on the floor below her. Whirling around, her heart nearly stopped seeing his familiar face smiling at her. "Garrus?"

"Hey!" The Batarian bartender barked as he glared down at the shattered glass. "Watch it! Pick that mess up!"

Flushing in embarrassment, Andromeda quickly bent down to scoop up the glass shards to dispose them. Hurriedly throwing them away, she raised back up to face her friend. She fought back the urge to run over and hug him. Her mind was racing in time with her heart beats. There were so many questions she had to ask him. "How did-"

"Give me the best Turian ale." Garrus interrupted as he winked, trying to act like he was a paying patron, remembering the crowd that was behind him.

Reaching into the counter below her, she pulled up a vile that contained a bluish color liquid and poured into the glass. "Here you go." She smiled as she pushed the glass in front of him.

"Tough group you have here…" Garrus picked up the glass and threw back the liquid with one gulp. Even though the Turian ale was pretty potent, he knew it wouldn't be enough to calm his nerves. He motioned with his head to the mercs behind him and handed her the empty glass. "Give me another."

"Yeah…word around here is that Archangel is causing these guys all sorts of problems. " Andromeda looked behind Garrus worriedly, already putting two and two together. She poured another shot of the ale and slid the glass back over to the Turian in front of her.

"I heard," Garrus threw the second shot back just as quickly as the first and wiped his mouth. He felt a tingling sensation course throughout his entire body. The second shot seemed to be a little stronger than the first, always was. "One tough son of a bitch to take down."

Andromeda smirked knowingly. "Anything else?"

Garrus shook his head and held up his hand, motioning for now he had enough. "What they doing now?" He lowered his voice.

The brown haired woman watched the mercs for a second then replied, "Some sort of attack I think…though I don't think they really know what they are going to do."

"Good luck on them finding Archangel." Garrus chuckled softly to himself in a boasting manner.

Andromeda frowned as she looked at him sadly. "They came in and said that the Blood Pack almost killed _him_. They said Archangel was wounded."

Garrus reached up to his right arm and gently rubbed it. "Just a flesh wound. He will be just fine. Nice getup," He motioned to her outfit.

Andromeda felt her face turn red, remembering how revealing her clothes were. But before, she could reply, the bartender came over and grabbed her arm. "What did I tell you about talking too much to the patrons?" He pushed her towards the other end of the bar roughly.

"Damn human…" Garrus scoffed in disgust, hoping to get to the Batarian's good side.

"Sorry about that. I don't see why Aria bought her in the first place. They disgust me." The bartender motioned to Garrus' empty glass. "Want another one?"

"Sure…"

The bartender poured another glass of the ale and then made his way down to keep an eye on Andromeda. But this time Garrus wasn't too eager to gulp it down…his hand lingered on the full glass. He watched on, scowling. He blew his opportunity. He needed to get more information from Andromeda, but the bartender was keeping her to just serving the drinks. He had to find a way to get close enough to talk to her again without making a scene. "Well this _is _Omega." Garrus thought out loud as the idea hit him. Throwing back the ale once more, he slammed down the glass and wiped his mouth. Now he really was getting a buzz from the booze and his entire body seemed to tingle more. Another shot of that and he would be on his ass. "Hey, can she do a lap dance?" He called out, slurring his speech in a mock drunken state.

The bartender almost fell over by Garrus' odd request; Andromeda almost dropped the bottle of ale she was holding. "_You_ want a lap dance…from _her?"_ The bartender stumbled over his words. Andromeda watched on in disbelief.

"Ya, what's wrong with it?" Garrus slowly got up from his chair to make his way over to an empty table.

The mercs overheard what was said and Garrus heard a few of them laugh in amusement by his spectacle. "Well why don't you just go upstairs? There are plenty of Asari you can pay." The bartender called out to Garrus from behind the bar.

"Look…I'm down here and I don't feel like going up there. I'll pay double." Garrus sat down in his chair, nearly falling out on purpose.

The bartender jerked his head sharply over to the Turian. "Go over there and give him a damn lap dance. I get the creds. " Waving her away, he didn't give her another moment of his time.

Timidly, Andromeda looked back and then made her way over to Garrus. Her eyes met his as she slowly settled on top of his lap, facing him. "Garrus…this is crazy…" She whispered as she leaned over.

"Only way I could get close…I need to talk to you…" Garrus whispered back into her ear as he kept his arms out straight nervously as his fingertips gingerly held her waist sides.

With her face completely red in embarrassment, Andromeda bounced her hips a little with the pace of the music, but when she noticed that the mercs and the Batarian were already tuning them out; she stopped. "What is it?"

Keeping his voice low, Garrus continued, "Will Aria's Krogan be escorting you tomorrow the same time to the club?"

"Yeah…I think so…they do every day."

"We have timed their route and it's too risky trying to get you away from the Krogan."

"I knew that was you…" Andromeda smiled at him.

"We are going to hit the apartment complex….I have a team that can help me." Garrus assured as he casually peered over Andromeda's shoulder to make sure the mercs were still not listening in.

"Garrus…" Andromeda looked at him. "Why did you come here?"

"I had to get you…Omega is dangerous…" Garrus looked into her eyes as he added on, "I didn't want anything bad happen to you…"

His words struck Andromeda hard as she looked at him in disbelief. She leaned in closer and nuzzles his head with hers graciously. "Thank you…" She whispered softly.

The sound of chairs scooting away made Andromeda and Garrus both turn their attention to the group of Suns that were once sitting at a table nearby. "We better hurry. Tarak told us it was important." One of the mercs said to the group as he turned to exit the club.

"Finally, we may take down that Turian bastard." The second one chimed in.

Andromeda watched them leave in dread and then turned back to Garrus, whose eyes were still lingering on the mercs. His demeanor changed as his mandible was clenched and his entire body tensed up. "Garrus…this is insane what you're doing…"

"Someone has to…" Garrus scooted out from underneath her gently and stood back up. He walked over and gave the promised creds to the bartender who was waiting patiently seeing the two break up. "Thanks…"

"No, the pleasure is all _mine_." The bartender smirked as he accepted them.

Andromeda felt as if her body was anchored down, watching Garrus leave. She badly wanted to go after him and make him stop his senseless attack on the merc groups, but she knew any protest would give away his position and be instant death. All she could do was just sit there and watch him leave her once more.

Sidonis tensed up seeing the group of Suns leaving the club in haste and he turned his head as if to look at a group of Salarians talking nearby to avoid eye contact. Garrus was in longer than he expected and he felt a great amount of tension in the air. To make matters worse, he seemed like he was surrounded, but there was no one who was really paying him attention from what he could see. Mercs were everywhere, but nothing more than normal on the station.

Minutes later after the Suns' departure, Garrus also left the club, and quickly made his way over to Sidonis. "What took you so long?" Sidonis asked.

"I got what we need…let's get out of here." Garrus ignored his question as he led Sidonis back to their hideout.

Cathka stepped out from the shadows of the transport hub as he watched the two well clothed Turians leave the Afterlife club area. Lighting another cigarette, all four of his eyes followed them. He had been watching Sidonis standing outside the club, nearly pacing. When his partner joined, he looked even more alarmed. He even noted the Turian's reaction when the Suns left the club. A normal resident of Omega or even visitor from another station wouldn't pay much attention to the Suns, but clearly these two were involved somehow. The two didn't look familiar to him at all and he pretty much kept up with their business on the asteroid station. "_Sergeant Cathka, did you find anything_?" Tarak, the leader of the Blue Suns group on Omega, buzzed in through his radio.

"Two Turians outside the club…one went in and the other stood outside. I'm going to have one of my men tail 'em." Cathka caught the attention of a Suns' Turian undercover member and pointed two fingers towards the direction that Garrus and Sidonis went. The Turian nodded his head silently and turned to follow.

"_Report back in when you have more information. Tarak out_." The radio went back to silence once more.

One of the Blue Suns that was in the club in the lower level, broke from the group and made his way over to Sergeant Cathka. Taking another puff of his cigarette, Cathka asked, "Tell me everything you heard."

9


	10. Chapter 10

"_Archangel…Omega's number one public enemy. " _ A Batarian announcer said over the crackly intercom system at the markets. Just like crime that plagued the entire station, the vendors and shoppers were not really paying attention and minding their own business. A lot of them knew better than to comment on what was being said….if Archangel didn't bother them, then what difference did it make?

Sidonis _did_ hear what the announcer said but tried to keep his emotions guarded. Even though no one was looking at him, he knew someone was watching him. He tried not to make it too obvious that he was desperate to find his invisible spy.

Making his way to the upper markets, he passed a couple of snarling Vorcha who didn't care to give him another thought. They hissed amongst themselves, who knows what exactly what they were saying? He did not, however, that the population of Vorcha had increased in the area…he assumed mainly that had to do with Archangel and the Blood Pack. After Garrus' last skirmish with Garm, Sidonis didn't doubt that the large Krogan leader would beef up his lookouts. The razor sharp teeth of the Vorcha were enough of a deadly weapon…they could probably tear you apart just as fast as a Varren. The vicious dog-like creatures were another menace to attacking the Blood Pack. Luckily when Garrus confronted Garm, he was not accompanied by Varren. The Blood Pack was the main merc group who utilized the beasts.

Realizing that he was in a precise location to watch Andromeda being escorted to the club, Sidonis eyed the area carefully then headed up the steps to an Elcor vendor. Not wanting to draw too much attention to him, he decided to at least have a look at what the massive alien had in his stock. The Elcor known as Harot puffed on a cigar and smiled wide as he saw the Turian approaching him. "Courteously, welcome to my store, have a look at my kiosk." The Elcor stood before him behind the counter with his two front tree-like legs for his main support while his two smaller legs in the back kept him balanced. He motioned over to the monitor with his head.

"Thanks…"Sidonis replied as he tapped the monitor to search through the database. There were a lot of upgrades…mostly black market, Sidonis noted. He glanced quickly around his shoulder to see two large Krogan coming into view. They walked side by side with a young brown haired woman in between them. He instantly recognized her as Andromeda. The Krogan's main focus was on the market crowd to make sure there were no surprise attacks; they assumed that Andromeda wouldn't try to escape.

"Impatiently, did you find something to buy?" Harot questioned seeing that his shopper wasn't too interested in what he had in his store.

"Oh…uh, sorry," Sidonis stammered, looking back at the monitor. He quickly scanned over the items to locate something cheap. "Those sniper rifle upgrades…any better ones on Omega?" Sidonis asked, giving the seller his full attention now, but keeping in the back of his mind on when the Krogan would pass with Andromeda.

"Proudly, those are the best mods on this station." Harot gleamed as he took another puff of his cigar.

Watching the Krogan pass by, Sidonis reached into his pants pocket to retrieve his cred chit. "I'll take two."

"Pleasantly, insert your cred chit." Harot motioned with his massive right leg like arm to the kiosk. "I'll get the items for you."

Quickly swiping his chit, Sidonis noticed that Andromeda and her guards were now at the other end of the markets heading up to the club. "I'll be right back. Take your time." Quickening his pace, he took pursuit. He had to make sure that Andromeda went to the club and there was no sudden change of route.

Just as he was about to round the corner that the Krogan went, two Blue Sun mercs stepped out from a crowd at a local food vendor, blocking his path. The Suns were both Human; their eyes straight on Sidonis who had a look of dread on his face. Their hands lingered on their loaded assault rifles. These two definitely were in the markets looking for a fight. Not wanting to get into a confrontation, Sidonis back stepped then pivoted around quickly to head towards a more crowded section of the markets. There were only two mercs and he hoped that he could lose them…he just had to be quick about it! Just as he was about to step forward, two mercs, both Batarian stepped out from a shop keeper's store. One of the Batarians was smoking on a cigarette and a sinister smirk was on his face.

Turning back around, trying to find another way out, Sidonis saw the two humans approaching him and no hope of another way out. "Fuck…." Sidonis cursed as he stayed where he was, giving up.

Sergeant Cathka had his men ready on surveillance that afternoon near the club and at the markets. The two Turians became great interest to him and even more of an interest when his scout advised him that they left the club the day before to an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse was occupied by a few humans, mostly freelancers, another Turian and a Batarian. Everyone seemed pretty armed and there was no insignia of a rival merc band…Cathka indefinitely ruled that this group had to be linked to the "Archangel" plague on Omega.

Once news hit Tarak, he ordered Cathka to have a "chat" with one of the suspect Turians and find out which one was "Archangel" himself. Cathka took the job without hesitation since he lost several good men to the Archangel raids. He didn't know who this guy was, but he was going to enjoy making him suffer. No one screwed with the Blue Suns.

They only waited an hour when Sidonis entered the markets, looking suspicious already. He seemed to be on the lookout for someone…but Cathka didn't know who…and he didn't care. He told his men not to approach until given the signal. He wanted to see what was going on. The brown Turian seemed to be interested in one of the merchants' store, but it was clearly a ploy. Seeing the Turian change his attention, Cathka followed his gaze to see two armed Krogan walking into the markets accompanied by a human dancer, he assumed. Judging by the female's attire, Cathka was certain that the Krogan were Aria's men. Entertained, Cathka watched on. Archangel was stepping up to mess with Aria T'Loak herself? "_Archangel has more balls than a Krogan._" Catha chuckled to himself.

Seeing Sidonis quickly making his away from the vendor, Cathka radioed his men, giving the signal. Now was his chance and it had to be fast! Once the Turian was cornered, Cathka casually approached while taking a draft on his cigarette. "Uh…can I help you with somethin?" Sidonis asked coolly.

"Thought we may have a chat." Cathka kept all four eyes on the Turian…there was definitely fear in him.

Sidonis eyed the four men and then motioned towards the direction of the club with his head. "Sure…why don't we all get a drink? I'll treat…but just one. I'm a poor bastard." Sidonis stumbled into his pockets to take out his cred chit.

The mercs snickered at the Turian's words. Cathka looked at Sidonis silently with a sadistic grin before raising the cigarette once more to his lips. "Private chat…let's go this way." He turned to walk towards their designated secluded spot. The human mercs shoved Sidonis to go in Cathka's direction.

Garrus obsessively unloaded and reloaded his sniper rifle as he waited for Sidonis' signal for phase two of their plan. Phase one was to have Sidonis monitor Andromeda's movements to and from the club. Once she was back at the apartment complex and Aria's men were no longer sight, Garrus and his team would make their move. The only problem was that Sidonis was supposed to have checked in nearly thirty minutes ago. Garrus grew up with Sidonis on Palaven and served together in the Turian military, they were raised to be punctual. Even if Aria's men's timing was off, Sidonis would send word to give the team a status update. However, the radio was silent…and it gave Garrus a chill that went down his spine. It wasn't like Sidonis to be this late on a mission…at least not telling him.

Seeing his men pumped up, ready to go, Garrus clenched his mandible as his blue eyes glanced hesitantly at the door. There was a strong urge to send one of them out to look for Sidonis, at least retrace his route to make sure there wasn't any trouble. He and his men couldn't simply break into the apartments not knowing if Andromeda was there or not. If she wasn't, then it would risk his men's lives for nothing and make Aria involved. He knew right now the Pirate Queen didn't care one way or another about Archangel…as long as it didn't concern her.

"Where the hell is he already?" The Batarian squad mate finally broke the silence through his team's grumbles.

Before Garrus could respond, a soft beep filled the air indicating that Garrus had an incoming comm. message. Taking out the small handheld device, he pressed the receive button. "What is going on? Where are you?" Annoyance and frustration filled his voice.

"They got her…I can't find her!" There was a strange tone to Sidonis.

"Calm down…what is your status? Where are you?" Garrus stood up, slinging the weapon over his shoulder, already knowing what his decision was going to be after this call.

"Eighth district…two Blue Suns picked up Andromeda from the apartment complex right as I was about to radio in…I followed them down here but I lost track of them! I picked up one but she's not with him. He said that she has to do with Archangel…they were watching us….Tarak is taking her to the docking warehouses. I won't get there in time if they are going to kill her! Damnit!"

"Stay there…I'm closer. Make sure he doesn't have any more information. Make him talk…"

"Will do…be careful." Sidonis' last words were a desperate plea.

Quickly shutting off the communicator, Garrus stormed over to the warehouse entrance before turning back to address his bewildered squad. "Stay here until I get back. Keep the comm. channel open for him."

"Want one of us to go with ya?" One of the human freelancers called out eagerly.

Garrus quickly shook his head. "No. You will slow me down." Slipping on his helmet, he dashed out the door towards Andromeda's given destination.

Keeping to the deserted lower streets of Omega, Garrus ran as fast as he could, despite his aching burning leg muscles begging him to stop. He pumped his legs harder, determined to get there in time. Sidonis didn't specify if they planned on killing Andromeda then and there, but he put the worse scenario in his head especially if they linked her to him. He cursed at himself silently to putting her more in a greater risk. Despite being closer to the location than Sidonis, it was still a good distance away from their warehouse. He could hear himself breathing hard as his heart pounded inside his chest. He felt like he was running faster than the time he and Shepard escaped the collapsing Prothean dig site on Therum.

Seeing the satisfaction of the docking warehouses coming into view, Garrus put everything he had into his running. Knowing he didn't have time to setup a point, Garrus took out his hand held pistol and armed it. This called for a more run in and shoot scenario…Commander Shepard would be proud. Garrus always liked a more delicate touch on his attacks, but for once, he would change his tactics. Not seeing any mercs nearby, Garrus cautiously approached the set of warehouses, giving his body a chance to calm down. He suspected an ambush since he figured they were going to use her to draw him out. He didn't care if his cover was blown to the mercs, as long as Andromeda was safe, that was what was important to him at the moment. He had been in worse spots before.

Slowly making his way through the row of warehouses, he listened carefully to signs of talking, cocking of guns, communicators….nothing. It was quiet. The only sounds were the distant hums of machinery loading and unloading ships in the holding bays.

After checking several of the warehouses for signs of movement, Garrus decided to risk tapping back into his suit's internal comm. system to send a transmission to Sidonis. "Any news on her? I'm at the docks…and there's no sign of merc activity down here." He waited several seconds for a response, but there was none. Becoming impatient on Sidonis' delay response for the day, he tried again. "I need a status report!" Still nothing…only dead air.

Searching the last warehouse for merc activity, Garrus radioed into his awaiting team at the hideout. "Have you heard anything?" If Sidonis wouldn't respond, at least _they _would. He waited several seconds….strangely they were not answering either! Believing that there was some kind of radio interference, Garrus dropped his guard and cautiously tucked his gun back into its holster.

Just as he was about walk out of the warehouse district at the docks, his radio finally crackled to life. "Ambush…Suns…! " A pained voice that Garrus recognized as the Batarian came through.

Feeling his heart nearly stopping from astonishment, Garrus stumbled a little as he felt his knees wanting to buckle from the sickening feeling that he left his men to die. Picking himself back up, he darted as fast as he could back to the warehouse, despite the pain already in his legs from his run over.

Blood oozed down the warehouse steps, creating a small pool at the bottom near Garrus' feet as he arrived at the hideout. One of the human freelancers was shot up pretty badly in the head and chest. He was almost unrecognizable as his flesh was meshed up, his cranium exposed. He was placed in a sitting position with his head resting back against the warehouse door. His personally modified assault rifle was between his legs with the barrel pointed upwards to his head in a cruel position as if he committed suicide. Judging by the way his chest was torn up, Garrus knew from all his training with C-Sec that the wounds were not self inflicted.

Bile formed in his throat as he approached the dead freelancer, already knowing what horror laid before him inside. Shakily clutching his hand held gun, he entered slowly just in case there was a surprise attack inside. The door to the warehouse whooshed open and the entire large room was completely dark. The putrid smell of death filled the air.

The first of the two rooms contained the heaviest of casualties. The human freelancers were torn to shreds, their melted flesh, guts and blood formed a pile underneath them. Only this time they were not positioned in a sick pose. Empty shell casings indicated that at least they managed to fire off a few shots before they came to their gruesome deaths. He hoped that at least one of them took down a merc. Sadly there were no merc bodies at all.

A slight groan in suffering made Garrus dart to the next room to see his fellow C-Sec Turian comrade twitching in the corner. The Turian didn't seem to notice Garrus as he was desperately trying to stretch his arm to his gun only a few inches away.

The Batarian also accompanied the Turian, but he too joined the fate of the freelancers. His large bulbous head almost seemed to be deflated from multiple shots to that area. The blood poured out from his wounds covering all four eyes. His omni tool was smashed, probably after the attack by the mercs, making sure that no one could patch through to their communications.

Rushing over to provide aid to his surviving comrade, Garrus knelt down to quickly assess his wounds. The whitish Turian had several massive shots to his sternum and his left arm completed was severed by the more than likely barrage of fire. Garrus didn't know how he managed to still be alive. The Turian tiredly fought to keep his eyes open as he looked up at his friend. "G-Garrus…" He coughed, blood spurting out from his mouth.

"Take it easy…I'll get you some medigel…" Garrus desperately looked around as he stayed with his friend, hoping to find a medigel pack, but their stash was completely gone. The mercs took it…making sure no one would recover from this assault. "Damnit!"

"I won't make it anyway…" The Turian chuckled half heartedly as he coughed again, blood gurgling in his throat. He coughed hard as the blood from the internal bleeding seemed to be strangling him. "Those clever bastards got to us…"

"Where's Sidonis?" Garrus asked, already noting that his friend was nowhere to be found with the casualties.

"He wasn't with them…as soon as you left, they attacked us…" His friend strained to speak as he coughed harder this time, his body desperately moving to get up. Garrus sadly watched his friend still fighting his death. The mercs _wanted_ him to leave. They had to be in the area before he left. But why wait and not attack him there too to have him share the same fate as his comrades?

"Did you find her?" The fallen friend spoke up once more, snapping Garrus out of his thoughts.

Garrus paused as he looked at his friend, seeing the hope in his eyes. He didn't want his friend or his comrades to die in vain. "Yeah…she's safe."

"Good…well at least it was a good run…" A few more coughs escaped his companion's mouth before life left him and his body fell back down to the floor.

Sighing hard, Garrus stayed where he was for a few moments, praying quietly that his friend would now find peace. Standing back up, he dared to let his avian eyes survey the massacre before him. Dropping his weapon, a primal rage boiled up from his chest into his throat, escaping his lips in a scream of agony.

"Eyes forward, human." The Krogan escort barked at Andromeda as he and the other led her from the club that night. She was exhausted. The Batarian bartender known as Forvan had her working over. She wasn't getting paid…so it didn't really matter to him how many hours she worked. He despised humans and he made sure to remind her every day.

As the Krogan led her on her usual route back home, Andromeda glanced around at the crowd in the markets hoping to catch a glimpse of Sidonis or Garrus tracking her progress, but there wasn't any sign of them. Just as they left the market area, a sickening scream of loss filled the air.


	11. Chapter 11

Garrus kept his head down as he slowly made his way over to the window. He had to be careful not to disturb any of the boxes: Many of them were empty but some held supplies, nothing illegal. Luckily he didn't have any trouble breaking into the warehouse, the Suns didn't care about it, but to Garrus it was the perfect place for his next target.

The supply warehouse was directly across from the residence of Tarak, the Blue Suns leader. It was a much larger accommodation than the apartments that many folk on Omega had to be accustomed to, so it stood out. However, the location was far away from prying eyes, but never out of the reach of Aria T'Loak. There were two Batarian Suns outside guarding the main entrance, but their appearance was more of a formality, they didn't appear to have their guard up. With the merc bands now working together against a common enemy, they were not too afraid of surprise hits for territory. At least Tarak wasn't that concern…but Garrus was sure to make him regret that mistake.

Ever since the attack on his base and the brutal slayings of his men, Garrus was determined to have revenge. The blue blood that pumped in his veins was still boiling and even hotter now that Tarak was in his sights. News travels fast on Omega and after the ambush; Garrus soon learned that the Blue Suns were behind it all. It didn't take him long to tail one of the mercs back to their boss' location.

Tarak had moved up to the upper level to a room that appeared to be his bedroom and he was sitting on his bed, wearing a dark blue silk robe. The Batarian barked some inaudible orders to someone inside the facility and then continued to rub his head in frustration. The shot was too perfect and Garrus eagerly pulled around his sniper rifle to get into position. He crouched down a little lower, keeping the end of the barrel right on the window sill to make sure that the guards below didn't look up to see the barrel's protrusion. He looked into the scope to Tarak's bulbous head right in the crosshairs. His finger slowly moving around to the trigger….

Just as he was about to shoot, another figure came into view, blocking his shot. It was an Asari…normal bluish skin tone. She was dressed in a white silk robe that flowed angelically around her body. Garrus couldn't hear what was being said, but she appeared to be worried for the Batarian's wellbeing. "Damnit….move…." Garrus muttered under his breath as his finger twitched on the trigger. He just needed her to get out of the way for one second…

"The other one is gone, Kiara!" The Batarian raised his voice loudly at the Asari. Clearly his words could be heard in the quiet sector of the station.

"Other one?" Garrus looked out of the scope towards the two in curiosity. He heard a soft murmur from the Asari in response to the merc leader.

"He's off this station! Archangel is finished. "Tarak snapped back still, but then the aggression died down.

"Sidonis…" Garrus' tightened his mandible as he peered back into the scope. Tarak seemed to motion the Asari over towards of a glass of Batarian ale on the nearby table. As he saw the Asari begin to move away as ordered, Garrus pressed down on the trigger.

Tarak rubbed the sides of his head with his fingertips. Just a few days ago, they made a brutal strike against Archangel, killing off his entire squadron but him. However, there were no signs of the vigilante. Nobody had seen Archangel on Omega, not even the Blood Pack or Eclipse. At first he began to think that Archangel fled the station, but now he began to worry that Archangel was planning his next hit. He didn't want to make any deals just yet….he was losing profits and many of the mercs were becoming disgruntled on not taking in creds. What if tomorrow they processed a huge shipment of Red Sand to Ilium and Archangel strikes? Where the hell was he?

Kiara, an ex-merchant from Ilium, gracefully walked into the room with a glass filled with Batarian Ale. She was pretty young for an Asari, but still much older than he was, but you couldn't tell by the way she looked. He didn't mind robbing the cradle…her natural blue skin was enchanting and she was more attractive than the dancers that were in the Afterlife. He picked her up a few years ago on Ilium when he smuggled some Red Sand to an unlicensed vendor. Kiara, on the other hand, was selling mods, some of them were illegal. When the mods were some of the best ones he seen, Tarak made a deal with her to purchase more for his team on Omega, and personally made the trips himself to Ilium. She willfully accompanied him back to Omega after one transaction and after a few drinks at the Afterlife, one thing led to another. Luckily for him, she decided to stay on Omega with him and hired another Asari to run her store on Ilium. Kiara delicately brushed her fingertips up his arm as she stood beside him with concern on her face. "Tarak, are you sure that the one that sold Archangel out isn't lurking around?"

"The other one is gone, Kiara!" Tarak growled in annoyance as he jerked his body away. Normally he enjoyed her sensual caresses that sent a tingling sensation throughout his body like a jolt of electricity, but the presence of the Asari frustrated him even more.

"Are sure? Tarak, you need to get rid of Archangel and quit screwing around with him." Kiara replied back softly with a bit more firmness.

"He's off this station! Archangel is finished." Tarak snapped back. He sighed as all four eyes set upon the glass of Batarian ale across the room on the table. "Just get me my drink….maybe the booze will help me sleep."

"I could help you sleep…" Kiara cooed as her fingertips lingered on his arm.

"No," Tarak grunted and motioned to the drink again with his hand.

As Kiara stepped to retrieve the glass, something caught Tarak's eye. He glanced towards the right to see what it was and saw the horrific sight of a blue blur across at the empty warehouse. As his eyes settled upon the blue form, he could make the shape of a helmet and a gun….his heart stopped.

Seeing that her lover's color was draining from his body, Kiara followed Tarak's gaze and saw the same horrendous sight. Time seemed to stop as the figure's gun moved just an inch and fired. Kiara stepped forward…

Panic struck Garrus as he saw the Batarian look straight at him. Squeezing the trigger rapidly, the bullet bolted down the shaft of the rifle on its trajectory. Garrus kept his eye in the scope…he had to make sure that the bullet struck…just as he did, a flash of white filled the scope.

Alarmed, Garrus quickly looked out of the scope to see that the Asari stepped into the path of the oncoming bullet. Just as she did, the bullet struck, but instead of hitting the true target of the Batarian's skull, it struck the Asari straight in the chest, piercing her heart. Garrus watched on in disbelief…

A soft moan escaped the Asari's mouth as her body slumped over backwards in an awkward position. Moving quickly to catch her, Tarak held onto the Asari in his arms. She looked up at him with the fear of death in her eyes. The shot was fatal, blood trickled down the corner of her mouth as the natural blue tone of her body was becoming lighter. "Kiara?" Tarak shouted in desperation as he clutched her body tighter.

The two Batarian guards below, oblivious to what just happened, overheard their boss' cry and ran quickly inside. "What's wrong, boss?" One of them asked as they made their way up the stairs.

"Crap…." Garrus watched on. He cursed inwardly for the Asari taking the deadly shot. A part of him inside wanted to rejoice knowing that Tarak lost someone dear to him so he could feel his pain, but for the most part, Garrus hated to know that an innocent died.

"He's up there!" A voice shouted snapping Garrus' out of his internal debate and he ducked just in time to miss being struck by a barrage from an assault rifle.

Even though he was outnumbered, the odds were three to one, and he had been in tougher situations than that before. He wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by. He had to make Tarak pay, even if he died in the process. Taking a chance on his kinetic shields, Garrus rose back up to take a position once again on the house. The two Batarians pinned themselves up against the walls and Tarak was desperately trying to get out of sight as he still clutched Kiara. "I need back up! Archangel is at Tarak's!" One of the mercs desperately ordered into his radio. Catching him off guard, Garrus took the shot, nailing the Batarian straight in the top right eye. The bullet lodged inside his skull and brain, killing him instantly. Blood spurted out as he fell over dead.

Seeing that Tarak was trying to make his way to the stairwell, Garrus aimed for the walls above and fired off three rounds to suppress him in that location. Just as he did, he felt one of the merc's bullets striking his barrier. Scowling, Garrus repositioned his rifle and shot the firing merc in the forehead. Two down…one more to go.

"You will not kill me, Archangel, you bastard!" Tarak screamed out in outrage as he fired aimlessly in Garrus' direction.

"Damnit, Tarak, you coward…" Garrus hissed under his breath as he tried to get the merc boss in his sights, but Tarak was keeping low... Seeing that the standoff was at a stalemate, Garrus slung the sniper rifle strap over his shoulder and took out his M-6. He was going to make this up close and personal.

Swiftly moving down the steps of the warehouse, he stopped in midstride when he heard several voices nearby. Pressing against the wall, he kept in the shadows and peered out the warehouse entrance to see at least ten mercs running into Tarak's house, heavily armed. Garrus watched on….wondering on just how good his chance of survival now was. "Where is he, Tarak?" A female woman called out to the merc boss.

"He's in the warehouse across the street, Jentha! Go in and kill him! I want Archangel's head!" Tarak screamed.

Garrus tensed up and looked around him. The warehouse was pretty dark, but not much room to maneuver effectively in a firefight. He clenched his teeth…he had to give up this battle. Stuffing the pistol in his side holster, he set foot back up the stairwell to make his escape out of the top floor side windows facing away from the Suns.

Andromeda frowned as she worriedly looked at the entrance to the lower part of the club. There were not many patrons lately, not many mercs and no word from Garrus or his friend Sidonis. Ever since that one day in the market when she heard that scream, a pit formed in her stomach. She tried to keep her ears open to conversations…normally someone would talk about how Archangel had another sting operation, but nothing.

"Awe, what's with the sad face?" A human male called out to her from the other end of the bar. Even though the male was obviously drunk, there was some true concern in his voice. He and his male friend had been sitting at the bar for about an hour. They seemed to be pretty new in town and luckily for them, Forvan did not come in yet.

"Jake!" The other male scolded his friend. "You're going to make a scene."

"It's ok…I'm sorry to be a terrible host…" Andromeda walked over to the two. "Did you guys need anything?"

"Nah…I think three is my limit." Jake's friend shook his head. "This stuff is much stronger than where I come from."

Hoping they were working with Garrus, Andromeda perked up a little. "So uh where are you guys from?" Remembering her first conversation with Sidonis in Afterlife. Though she didn't why they were being so secretive…it wasn't like anyone was watching her this time.

"Here and there…" Jake hiccupped. "We have a sturdy rig for supply sales. Just came from Horizon. Nice colony there."

"Andromeda!" A familiar voice beckoned harshly. Andromeda pivoted around to see Forvan standing there with an unhappy look on his face.

"Sorry, Forvan. I'll go wipe the tables now." Andromeda grabbed a cloth to escape any confrontation right now with the Batarian bartender. It was pretty obvious that the humans were not part of Garrus' crew.

Forvan leered over Andromeda's shoulder to the two she was just talking to. "They pay yet?"

Andromeda shook her head. "No..three drinks a piece though. I think they are just stopping by…not locals." She cringed saying the latter.

"Stopping by, eh?" Forvan sadistically smiled. "Go on."

Andromeda walked over to the nearest table to clean, but kept her blue eyes on Forvan and the two humans who were now in some sort of conversation. Forvan seemed to be very polite and poured one of them another drink. Then he turned to walk off, and she thought she saw him chuckling a bit. Why was he so happy?

Hours later, after the two humans left, the entire lower section of the club seemed to be deserted except for one regular Batarian customer. Forvan and he were in a private chat and Forvan kept pointing down to the empty chairs that the two humans were at and laughing.

Curiously, Andromeda decided to check some of the private rooms to see if anyone was in there and needed help. She really hoped to engage in some sort of conversation. Sliding her pass card into the scanner, she waited for the door to whish open and stepped inside.

The private room contained two tables and black couches. Sitting at one of the tables was surprisingly two human Blue Suns mercs and beside them stood a fairly old Krogan. At least five empty glasses were on the mercs' table, amazingly the two were not passed out yet. The male appeared to be half awake and was slumped backwards in his chair. The woman kept her focus on the old Krogan.

Stopping his conversation with the two mercs, the Krogan turned his head to Andromeda. "Well..well…what do we have here?"

Andromeda flushed a little in embarrassment for invading their privacy. "Uh, sorry…did you guys need anything?"

"Ya, something to drown this bothersome Krogan out…" The woman slurred.

"Shut up, Trina. At least it's better than being out _there_. I'm not getting my ass shot by Archangel…I don't care what the hell Tarak says." The male merc argued with his eyes still closed.

The old Krogan shook his head. "You'd rather sit here and drink than go out and fight? The time I fought Aria…now _that_ was a fight."

Trina pounded her fist on the table. "Will you fuckin shut up already? Damnit, Patriarch! We don't care about your stories! "

"So what's that bastard Archangel doing to you guys now?" Andromeda focused her attention on what the Blue Suns were talking about as she picked up their empty glasses. Patriarch walked over to the side, pretty upset that she was more interested in what the mercs had to say than him.

"What has he _not _done you mean?" The male laughed as he placed his head heavily on the table, barely conscious now.

"Well we hit the bastard pretty hard a week ago. Took out his entire squad. Could have taken him out too but Tarak wanted him to live and suffer. Then a few nights ago, Archangel attacked Tarak's house and killed his Asari in cold blood! Tarak hasn't been right since…we have him cornered at the Gozu district but the coward has all the entrances sealed and the only way to get across is the bridge. Damn attacks are suicide."

Andromeda's heart sunk as she listened on. No wonder Garrus and his team didn't get to her…the Suns got to them first. Now Garrus was pinned…and he couldn't last much longer trying to fight the mercs. Knowing that she couldn't stand around anymore and do nothing…she knew she had to get out of the club and to the Gozu district. Seeing that the woman wasn't really focusing on her as she talked, Andromeda set the glasses down on the empty table then walked back over to pretend to wipe their table.

She noticed that Patriarch was watching her, but more out of curiosity on what was going through her mind. Deciding to take the risk as Trina continued to babble on about their impossible mission, Andromeda used the side of her hand and struck hard as she could to the side of the women's neck, using enough force to temporarily cutting off circulation. The woman slumped over unconscious.

Alert to see his comrade fall over, the male merc stumbled out of his chair and looked at Andromeda in fear. "What the hell?" He grasped desperately for his gun to the side, but his drunken stupor was making the simple task more difficult. As she watched on, Andromeda quickly glanced around, trying to figure out how to overtake her opponent. The element of surprise was no more and she mistakenly believed he was passed out from booze.

Suddenly the elderly Krogan roared to life and he charged right towards the merc, head butting him hard. The male merc flew across the room, with the sickening cracking sound of his back impacting against the wall. His body slid down into a motionless position. Looking over in disbelief, Andromeda saw the Krogan grin big as he pounded his fist into his palm. "That sure brings back memories." He chortled.

"T-thank you…" Andromeda stammered.

"No, thank you, for giving this old Krogan some excitement…" Patriarch let his reptilian eyes linger on the merc he just took out.

Racing over to the unconscious female, Andromeda began to undo the armor, knowing her only ticket out of this place was in a disguise. As she placed the last piece of armor on, she worriedly glanced back at Patriarch who watched on. "Please…don't tell anyone… I have to help Archangel…"

"You think I would _never_ let anything be taken away from Aria?" Patriarch smiled. "If you want a quick way out…follow me." He motioned with his head.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, where the hell have you been? Tarak wanted all of us to be on the boulevard." A Blue Sun merc shouted at Andromeda as she made her way out of the Afterlife club. She was lucky to have run into Patriarch. With his help, she managed to get out of the club undetected….for now. However, she knew it wouldn't take Aria long to learn word of what transpired so she had to find Garrus and fast!

"Yeah…I'm comin." Andromeda grumbled as she stomped over, trying her best to not only look the part but act like it. She managed to pick up on a few cues from the mercs that visited the club regularly.

"Anymore in there?" The Blue Sun Batarian pointed behind her to the Afterlife. "Tarak's gonna be pissed if anyone's holdin out. One more assault then we'll have to leave up to the freelancers."

"So what kind of assault will it be this time?" Andromeda questioned as she casually glanced behind her to make sure that she wasn't being tailed by any of Aria's men.

The Batarian shrugged. "I'm just here waitin to get word to start transporting the freelancers over to the drop point. Get in before you get in trouble. "

The ride over to the boulevard was a lot shorter than Andromeda figured. However, it was in a part of Omega that she was not familiar with: The Gozu district. Another Batarian Blue Sun merc walked up to the transport to greet her. "Go on and get to the boulevard. Tarak is about to use the gunship on Archangel. He wants the rest of us to cross the bridge while he distracts him."

Andromeda's heart sunk when she heard his words. "Gunship?" She blurted out in shock.

The Blue Sun snorted as he eyed her empty holster, ignoring her request for clarification. "What'd you do? Leave your gun at the club." He shook his head and handed her his M-5. "Take this…you'll need it."

"Uh…right." Andromeda fitted the weapon into the holster and then hurried to the boulevard, trying not to look too obvious. She just hoped that she got there in time to try to get to Archangel and warn him about the impending doom that the Suns were pitting against him.

The boulevard's walls were lined up with mercs prepping their guns and conversing in conversation. Most of them were whispering their protests about the assault. Surprisingly the mercs were not just the Suns, but the Eclipse as well. In the distance in some of the other rooms, Andromeda thought she heard the faint snarl of a Vorcha…probably Blood Pack's presence. Luckily, on Omega, she never had the fortune of running into Vorcha, but she preferred to keep her distance. There were a pest on the asteroid station and running into them alone usually meant trouble.

Hearing gunfire up ahead, Andromeda avoided eye contact from the mercs who eyed the newcomer and continued on. To her right up ahead was a makeshift barrier with a few mercs taking refuge. They seemed to be peering over the barrier towards a building in the distance. Andromeda stopped in midstride to look on. Suddenly a blue figure rose up and poised his weapon straight in her direction "Get down!" A female voice shouted and Andromeda felt someone grab her arm, pulling her away.

Confused, Andromeda looked over at her savior, who was a woman that appeared to be a few years older than her. She had darker skin and light brown hair. "Tarak wants us alive for now…don't go wasting your life like that." She scolded but in a friendly tone.

"Sorry…guess I was eager." Andromeda apologized, turning her head this time only slightly to the open area. She could hear grunts from her peers by her daring act.

"You'll have your chance…Sergeant Cathka is prepping Tarak now with the gunship. Now that sick bastard, Archangel, can finally get what he deserves. I still cannot believe that he tried to kill Tarak in his own home!" There was fire in her eyes from her words. She put her hand up to her right ear for a second taking in a message then glanced back at the awaiting mercs. "Everyone get ready! We're about to give Archangel hell!" The mercs cheered as they moved forward towards the bridge.

Andromeda slipped in near the back for the passing group and tightened the grip on her gun when she heard the loud rumbling overhead as the gunship hovered. Moving towards the opening that led out to the bridge, she heard Tarak's voice booming over the gunship's loud speaker. "Archangel! You are going to die!"

Garrus hated wasting ammo on a few lousy shots that was only picking off a few mercs here and there as they stay hidden behind their barrier. He knew majority of the mercs were inside plotting his demise, so the less fortunate ones were appointed as distractions. When he escaped from Tarak the other night from his attack on his residence, Garrus managed to find a new base of operations: An old storage facility adjoined to another building by a bridge. The building had three levels: The main floor, second floor and the basement. He managed to seal up the basement to help keep his focus on the bridge. The only way across to the building was the bridge so that's the only place that the mercs could attack. The first wave of mercs were easy….one by one they fell into Garrus' scope and were shot dead in an instant. When that assault failed, the Blue Suns pulled back, giving Garrus ample time to place two bombs just in case some lucky merc managed to get past him. However, the failure must have really pissed off Tarak even more because Garrus noticed from the second…third and fourth waves, the mercs were not only the Suns, but the Eclipse as well. He figured that the Blood Pack was also involved but no sign of them yet.

As he rose up to fire in response to the distracting mercs, his eyes under his helmet locked onto another individual. The figure was female by the armor's distinction in the upper breasts plate. She had on the Blue Suns' colors but obviously her demeanor was nothing like them: She was armed, but clearly had no intention of firing a single shot at him. He shifted the scope onto the individual and took his finger off the trigger when he realized who it was. "Andromeda…" He said her name softly as he repositioned his weapon and fired at one of the opposing mercs instead.

Pressing back up against the wall, he waited for the mercs to return fire. He clutched his sniper rifle tightly to him and looked up at the ceiling of the building in disbelief. He took a breath in as he realigned his finger back on the trigger. He tried to remain so focus against the endless barrages of merc attacks, despite his body begging for an hour of sleep, but now with her being present, he didn't know what he was going to do. He just seemed so off guard…he never felt like that before.

"Archangel!" Tarak's voice boomed nearby, snapping Garrus to attention. "You are going to die!"

Hearing the distinct sound of the gunship's engines, Garrus whirled around and took aim at the vessel's weak points. However, just as he was about to fire, he felt a sharp jolt strike his kinetic shields. Glancing down he saw a wave of Suns running across the bridge, firing aimlessly in his position. "This is going to be bad…" Garrus grumbled to himself.

"Go! Go!" Jentha, the woman that Andromeda was talking to her earlier, ordered the mercs as they ran past her one by one across the bridge. "Aim for that bastard's head!"

Keeping to the back of the crowd, Andromeda worriedly glanced up to see Archangel trying to take a shot at the wave of mercs before redirecting his attention to the firing gunship. There was no way that he was going to be surviving this wave! Half of the mercs managed to arrive at the front of the building when a flash nearly blinded Andromeda and then a huge explosion knocked her to her feet. A wave of heat rushed over her, but not enough to burn her flesh. Shielding her eyes, she looked ahead to see the front of the building now had several flames and the terrible stench of burning flesh filled the air. Several surviving mercs groaned in pain as they tried their best to crawl back across the bridge, their bodies burned severely, their hair singed.

Ping! Andromeda looked up to see Garrus firing at the gunship. Several of the bullets ricocheted off the armor, but a few found their designated spots, striking the stabilizers. The gunship slanted to the right side and smoke came out of the right engine. Tarak was desperately trying to control the ship to continue the attack, but the vessel was no good in its present condition. Seeing Archangel refocusing his attack on the wave, considering the gunship no longer a threat, several of the mercs pressed themselves tightly against crates located on the bridge for cover. "You are going to be a pain in the ass after all, Garrus…" Andromeda huffed under her breath as she pressed forward, hoping that Archangel would not select her as his next victim.

Feeling a bullet graze her right arm, she slid to the crate in front of her and looked up at Garrus in disbelief. Did he just try to shoot her? She saw his cold dark black visor gazing down upon her, his rifle right on her. She clenched her teeth, waiting for the deadly shot to come, but nothing. He just stayed there. Was he testing her?

Looking back to see one remaining merc watching, Andromeda raised her pistol and fired in Garrus' direction, praying that she would miss. Archangel ducked down. "Go!" The merc shouted at her. "I'll hold 'em!"

Nodding her head, Andromeda smiled and ran forward past the burning chards of merc bodies at the entrance. Glancing back, she saw the merc trying to follow her lead, but to only fall prey to Archangel.

There was silence all around as she was the remaining merc for the infiltration team. She kept her gun poised knowing that she was still being watched by the Suns. "Archangel!" She shouted out in the main area. She could hear now faint cheering across the bridge by the remaining Suns.

"Looking for me?" A voice from behind called to her.

Andromeda whirled around with her gun ready. Archangel was up on the upper level with his attention now on her, his gun poised. She quickly looked back at the Suns as they witnessed what was happening. What was she suppose to do now? Was Garrus planning pretending to be dead? No…they would want his body...before she had a chance to debate anymore about what to do next…Archangel fired.


	13. Chapter 13

"And stay down!" Archangel's voice of triumph made Andromeda snap to her senses as she blinked up at the ceiling in a confused state. Flat on her back, she slowly turned her head over to notice that her hand cannon was a few inches away from her fingertips. There was slight pain throughout her whole body…mostly soreness. She winced a little, looking down, expecting to be a pool of blood from where Archangel's shot struck her, but to her amazement, there was no physical damage done to the exterior of her armor.

Lifting up barely, she slowly scooted back towards the staircase to keep out of sight from the mercs across the bridge. As far as they knew, she was dead. Moments later, Archangel came down the stairs to join her with his sniper rifle strapped along his back. "Good thing I shot before you did," Garrus' voice came from the helmet.

"Gee thanks…" Andromeda groaned slightly as she stood up from where she was. Even though there was no sign of physical trauma, she still felt like something hit her.

"Concussion shot only to take down your shields. I was careful." Garrus emphasized the last part. Turning, he made his way back up the stairs to his lookout point. "So…did you join the Suns?"

"No…it was the only way to get to you." Andromeda answered as she followed him, looking around cautiously.

Garrus inched his way over to the window and pressed himself against the wall, peering around to see what was going on with the merc activity below. "Looks like that should be it for now…their infiltration team failed…Tarak won't be happy…" Garrus chuckled. "I cannot wait to personally take down that bastard."

Andromeda stayed where she was in the doorway to the room, watching him. There was another demeanor to her Turian friend. Every muscle in him seemed to be tense; his finger was almost twitching on the trigger of his hand gun, aching for another kill. His eyes were dark, almost guarded. She then noticed that was no sign of anyone else with him in the building…not even Sidonis. "Garrus…what happened? Where's Sidonis?"

"He betrayed my team…he used you to get to me for the mercs…" Garrus kept his eyes on the mercs below. "Don't worry I sent out feelers…I'll find him."

"You won't be able to last long like this…." Andromeda made her way across from where he was, keeping herself pinned against the wall to stay out of sight.

"So far the mercs really haven't used their brains. Their channeling most of their teams across the bridge…one by one they fall." Garrus chortled slightly in amusement as the pure joy of taking down a merc lightened up his mood. "Mostly, just the Blue Suns. The Eclipse are holding back until the right moment. No sign of Garm and his Vorcha yet….that is what scares me the most." He then turned his head towards the room's door, expecting some attack from within the compound. His voice then lowered, "You know…you put yourself in a predicament, finding me like this."

"Garrus, placing yourself in this position isn't a smart thing to do either…" Andromeda glanced wearily at her companion then back towards the door as well, following his gaze.

Satisfied that the mercs were holding off any attacks at the present moment, Garrus relaxed his composure and swiftly moved over to a box of ammunition to sort through his supply. "The lower section is sealed off but I can give you the access code. The shutter door will relock once you go through. When the next wave hits, I want you to make your way down into the tunnels. "

"Garrus, I'm not leaving you, "Andromeda shook her head as she looked on.

"I'm not going to argue with you about this," Garrus sternly glared up at her, then double checked his scope.

Quickly moving over to him, she placed her hand over his, stopping him in mid motion. "I don't want anything to happen to you…"

"Andromeda…" Garrus' words escaped his mouth slowly as he caught her gaze in his eyes. Her eyes were filled with deep concern and sincerity. The warmth touch of her hand sent a shiver that penetrated his hard skin…like a precise shot to his heart. Garrus never really found himself to be attracted to another species other than the Asari. Liking humans was taboo and not too common among the Turian given their past history. Usually a Turian was attracted to a female's fringe or waist or the delicate soft bodies of the Asari. Humans…were different….he never gave them thought…but something about Andromeda had drawn him from the beginning. He gently rest his forehead against the top of her head as he felt her hands rest on his arms. Her touch calming him, making him almost forget where he was or what transpired on the station days ago. Normally only the Asari were known for their sensuous touch. He inhaled a glimpse smell of her intoxicating perfume from Afterlife.

Trembling, feeling the Turian moving closer and the touch of his head gently nuzzling against hers, Andromeda 's lips quivered as the hope of a kiss popped into her mind. Her heart was racing as time came to a complete stop. However, Garrus seemed to still keep up his guard. Something was bothering him. The distant sound of the mercs chattering amongst themselves as they plotted their next attack and Archangel's demise kept both Garrus and Andromeda in reality. Garrus gently lifted his head and peered over her shoulder towards the open window which was his lookout.

Sensing that he was bringing up his guard once more, Andromeda gripped his arms a bit tighter trying to get his attention. "Garrus…please don't do this…" She choked as tears begin to pour out from her eyes. "Sidonis isn't worth your life!"

Firmly moving her to the side, Garrus placed his helmet back on and cocked his rifle. "He's worth my _men's_ lives. Stay low and out of sight. When I tell you to, I want you to make your way to the lower section."

Andromeda slid down against the wall from behind as she watched him once again turn his back on her. He was too bent on revenge. The loud sound from machine guns firing made Garrus duck down as the bullets ricocheted sloppily all around the window, then he sprang up and fired at the attackers. The banter seemed it would last forever.

Andromeda wasn't too sure on how much time lapsed as she sat motionless on the floor watching Garrus return fire. She noticed that there were only a few sprays of bullets from an assault rifle every few minutes, but nothing like a full frontal attack. Both she and Garrus realized was that the charade was only a way to keep Archangel busy while the Suns plotted their next attack. They all knew that if a bullet didn't put a finishing blow to Archangel, exhaustion would. It had been days since the attack on Tarak's hideout and Garrus never had a chance to rest. The mercs were working in shifts: One group would give a few hours of sleep while the others would attack.

The sizzling sound of a clip discharging from Garrus' gun as it hit the floor made Andromeda snap back to attention. Panting inside his helmet, Garrus fumbled to load a next clip. His movements were becoming slower…fatigue was starting to hit hard. Wanting to help, Andromeda started to crawl forward, but he quickly motioned her to stop. "Andromeda, stay back !"

Keeping his head against the wall, Garrus waited till the sound of bullets whizzing over head died, then he moved back around to take out a few mercs with some well placed shots who were trying to barricade themselves in the boulevard. "Crap!" Garrus growled as he sat back down, his dark visor peering right in Andromeda's direction. "They are about to move out the infiltration team… wait for my signal!"

Andromeda bit her tongue from his words, watching him move back around to start taking out the freelancers for the mercs coming across the bridge. Her heart raced faster, anticipating his order, but it never came.

"Got some inside! Stay there!" Garrus switched quickly to his hand gun and sprinted towards the doorway, quickly locking the door.

Tightening her grip on her own weapon, Andromeda looked on. Any minute the room would erupt in firefight once the lock was bypassed. However, there seemed to be the sound of gunfire outside the door! Garrus seemed to have ignored this threat as he focused his attention back on the bridge. What the heck was he doing?

Hearing the door whishing open, Andromeda lifted up slowly, hoping to hit the attacker before they had a chance to hit Archangel in the back. However, a familiar face entered the room: Commander Shepard walked in with his gun poised followed by a black male around the same height wearing some sort of black ops uniform and a woman with brunette hair in a white uniform. Both the unknown male and female had the same organization markings on their clothes, a symbol that Andromeda was not too familiar with. Shepard eyed Andromeda cautiously with the others but returned his attention back to Archangel. "Archangel?" He called out.

3


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"So what's your story?" The brown haired female asked in what seemed to be like a thick Earth accent that Andromeda placed once or twice from watching vids on the extranet. Her question withdrew Andromeda's focus on the conversation that was transpiring between Shepard and Garrus. The two were catching up and despite the Commander's somewhat stern attitude that Andromeda was familiar with, the man's manner sort of perked up as the Turian spoke to him.

Andromeda paused to answer the question and shifted her body some in her sitting position on the couch. "I don't even know where to begin…" She laughed a little as she rubbed her face into the palm of her hands trying to fight back the physical and mental exhaustion that her body endured. She couldn't even imagine how Garrus felt. Her state was nowhere close to his level.

As she lifted her head, she noticed that the woman didn't seem to budge from her position. She casually placed herself against the wall with her arms crossed. From her pose, she seemed pretty relaxed but the tightening of her muscles said otherwise. They were all still in danger…any moment the mercs could bring on another assault, but the last attack decreased their numbers dramatically.

"How'd you let yourself get into this position?" Andromeda overheard Shepard asking his old comrade.

Garrus caught Andromeda's eyes with his own and then sighed, hanging his head down. "My feelings got in the way of my better judgment."

Picking up on their unspoken words, the woman smirked at Andromeda, "Oooh so that's it."

"Miranda, don't." The black skinned male scolded in a harsh whisper. "Whatever their story is, who cares…as long as we pick up this recruit."

"Always the dutiful one, Jacob," Miranda walked over to join Shepard and Garrus as the two now seemed to be walking over towards the window.

Sensing that there was something about to go on, Andromeda stood back up and clutched her hand cannon. At least now with Shepard and his squad with them, their odds were looking better.

"Let's give these bastards everything we've got!" Garrus took his position while Shepard and his team covered the other side.

"You!" Shepard snapped back at Andromeda. "Go to the back room and stay the hell out of my way!" The Commander pointed sternly towards the room's door.

"But I can shoot!" Andromeda insisted.

"Andromeda, you will be safer there." Garrus coaxed.

"Here they come!" Jacob called to their attention as he began to unleash a rapid burst of fire from his own hand cannon.

Rushing up between Miranda and Garrus, Andromeda took aim with her own weapon and began to fire upon the oncoming mercs. "Stay back!" The Turian turned from his position and grabbed her arm to pull her away. As he did, he left himself open and one of the merc LOKI-Mechs took aim and shot, striking Garrus towards the right side of his shield. The aim was precise since he was pretty well exposed and it brought his shields down to a drastic level. "Damnit!" He growled feeling a slight impact from the shot.

Infuriated, Shepard scowled, "Garrus, you're going to get yourself killed acting this way!" His blue eyes glared hard at Andromeda. "Get out of here now or I'll shoot you myself!"

Before she could react, she felt a sudden strike to the back of her neck. Collapsing into unconsciousness, the sound of voices and gunfire echoed till it finally dissipated.

Opening her eyes slowly, Andromeda waited for the images in front of her to become clearer. The supple support to her back was foreign and the material seemed to be quite different than her own bed on Omega. Rocking slowly back and forth, pressing her back further, she slowly coaxed herself to lift up into a sitting position.

"Good, you're awake finally," The recognizable woman's voice came from across the room.

Looking straight ahead, Andromeda noted that she was in what appeared to be an office crossed with a bedroom. The area was just large enough for the bed itself and then the room opened a bit more for a desk; an open archway led out into another part altogether. She wasn't quite sure where she was. The gentle humming made her assume that she was on a vessel. The brown haired woman that was speaking to her was sitting at the desk but faced around at her. "Per Dr. Chakwas medical report," The woman continued looking at a tablet in front of her, "There are no sign of physical injuries so there's no reason to delay this interrogation anymore."

"Dr. Chakwas?" The name was one that Andromeda pinpointed. The last time she met the medical doctor was after her rescue from Virmire but a lot of time elapsed since that date. Still didn't help out where she was…

Standing up, the woman approached Andromeda with a questioning look. "I have read your file. You had a past with Nihlus Kryik and Saren Arterius and currently work with C-Sec, but it still doesn't explain why you are on Omega and with our dossier. Shepard has asked me to question you."

"I have a file now?" Andromeda blinked. She was actually quite impressed that the woman knew so much about her and she knew so little. She was at a disadvantage but that was a point for interrogations. Knowledge was a powerful bargaining chip on both sides.

"Your job right now is to only answer questions, _not_ to ask them. Is that clear?" The woman responded sharply.

"Crystal…" Andromeda snapped back defensively. She was becoming quite tired already of this woman's attitude. Becoming surer of herself, she forced herself up from the bed in a more erect position.

"Where do you think you are going?" Andromeda's sudden movement seemed to have caught the interrogator off guard. "Shepard ordered for you to being questioned. You are not allowed to walk freely aboard this vessel."

"I choose not to answer any more." Stepping forward, her path became blocked, which she pretty much expected.

"I'm a biotic so I suggest you cooperate." The woman threatened, holding her ground. "I am Miranda, Shepard's second-in-command. If you want out of this room and any of your own questions answered, then I suggest you provide your full cooperation."

Sizing Miranda up, Andromeda hesitated with another remark or move. Throughout her training with C-Sec, she never had to encounter a biotic, but did read up on their attacks. The room was too closed in for maneuvering so she decided to take her aggressor's words as truth. Defeated, she stepped back and crossed her arms, "Tell Shepard that I will answer any questions you guys have for me once I know that Garrus is okay."

"He's in surgery." Miranda spat nonchalantly.

"Surgery?" Feeling her heart drop, Andromeda barely managed to sputter out the word.

Sighing in aggravation, Miranda tossed the tablet onto her desk. "I see this is going nowhere. You better hope we don't decide to toss you in the brig." She walked up towards the room's door and then paused. Her brown hair moved just slightly as she turned her head to look back, "There's a guard outside. I wouldn't bother trying to go out."

Watching the woman leave, Andromeda shook her head and sat back down on the bed. Her blue eyes transfixed on the door, waiting.

The wait inside the empty room felt like eternity until finally the satisfying whish of the door brought back Andromeda to her feet. Her hopes quickly dissipated when Miranda stepped back in with an even more aggravated look on her face. "Shepard wants to speak with you in his quarters. You are to follow me."

Nodding her head silently, Andromeda followed Miranda out, looking at the several men and women in uniform. They all bared the same marking on their clothes as the woman in front of her. They eyed her carefully and whispered amongst themselves. She ignored their looks and continued to examine her surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse…

"Don't bother. He won't see you here." Miranda spoke out, almost knowing what she was thinking. "Shepard stationed him at the main gun. _This way_." She motioned the young girl to follow her into the elevator.

Seconds later, the elevator came to a gentle stop and the doors opened. "I guess we are not really going to be friends." Andromeda spoke up as she decided not to wait for Miranda's command as she stepped out from the elevator.

"We have a mission…there's no time to make 'friends.'" Miranda countered as she led her inside the commander's quarters.

The male within seemed to be staring at what appeared to be a large aquarium filled with several unidentifiable species of fish. The man's pale blue eyes glanced over at Andromeda as she entered, then returned his attention to the fish. "That will be all, Miranda."

"Of course, Commander. I'll notify the Illusive Man of our progress."

"Fine."

Once the doors closed behind the second-in-command, Andromeda walked over to admire the models of several class ships in the glass case near the room's terminal console. "Nice associate you have there. I think I miss Ashley."

"I didn't _ask_ you for your opinion now did I?" Shepard snarled. He whirled around to face her, his jaw clenched. "You not following orders almost got Garrus killed on Omega. I'm tired of pulling your ass out of the fire. Give me one good reason why I don't eject you into space?"

Any smart remark that was in her vocabulary simply escaped her from the Commander's tone. Her thoughts were now on Garrus and the predicament he put himself in over her on Omega. She was careless and foolish. "I guess you don't have a reason to."

"If this mission wasn't so damn important, I would have shot Garrus myself for being stupid." He walked over and grabbed Andromeda's arm to make her look directly at him. "You have one chance to tell me what's going on."

"It's a long story…"

"Make it short."

After explaining to Commander Shepard how she was betrayed by Harkin to the Batarian slavers to be sold to Aria, the battle worn male seemed to be even more annoyed by her presence. "Great…I just stole a slave from Aria T' Loak…another name to be added to the list of people that I have seemed to have pissed off." Pushing the young woman out of his way, he tapped a button on his terminal.

"_Yes, Commander?"_ Miranda's voice through the console.

"Miranda, escort Andromeda to Doctor Chakwas' office. She is to remain _there _until we port back on the Citadel is that clear? I don't want her walking around causing a distraction to my crew."

"_Understood."_

"Citadel? Are we going back now?" Andromeda spoke up, finally refinding her nerve.

No. We are still in the Traverse. Our next stop will be Ilium. I won't put my mission on hold for you. Once we have our recruits, then we'll return to Council Space. Until then, you are to remain with Dr. Chakwas." He spoke harshly in a very threatening demeanor. Judging by his tone, she knew better than to overstep her boundaries. The Commander that she once knew seemed a bit more up tight than years ago but so much happened since she last saw him…she couldn't even imagine what he went through and she was clueless about the new mission that he was on. As much as she wanted to ask him about Garrus' current state, she bit her tongue.

"It is always good to see a familiar face. How have you been since we found you on Virmire?" The Doctor's warm blue eyes flashed at her.

"Exhausted," Andromeda forced out a small laugh. The gray haired doctor's gentle demeanor was something she was not quite accustomed to since her arrival on the ship.

"I bet. Garrus said you had been through a lot on Omega." Dr. Chakwas commented as she proceeded through her habitual examination of her "new" patient.

"Garrus…how is he?" Andromeda finally questioned as she waited for her right retina scan to be complete.

"He will be fine. He talked a lot about you while he recovered. Through my anatomy studies of Turians, I am accustomed to the more protective skin; however, I didn't expect him to pull through like he did. The shot from the gunship did a lot of tissue and bone damage to his face.

"What…?"

"Relax. He will be fine." Chakwas smiled back reassuringly as she tapped a few buttons on her portable hand held device. "I managed to reconstruct his facial loss with cybernetics. A pretty bad scar, but at least he still has full motor abilities.

The door to the infirmary slid open and Garrus walked in, holding his head as he looked down on the floor. "Doctor, I still have that damn headache." He looked up and then stopped in his tracks as his avian eyes fell upon Andromeda who was sitting on the examination table.

Catching the silent word exchanges, the older woman excused herself as she walked past the Turian to leave the room. Andromeda barely heard the words, "I will need to acquire more medical supplies from the storage compartment."

"Why are you here? Are you hurt?" Garrus hurried his pace to where she was; clearly concern was in his eyes.

"I'm fine…" Andromeda smiled and then looked down at her own body. "To be honest, I am not sure why the doctor was examining me. Shepard told me to stay here until we returned back to the Citadel."

"Don't blame the Commander for his harshness, there's a lot going on that you don't know about." Garrus defended his friend, already reading Andromeda's true feelings by the tone in her voice.

"What is going on?"

"Collectors are invading human colonies and taking the inhabitants. We are not sure why, but it has something to do with the Reapers. A lot of colonies have been hit."

"Collectors?" Andromeda looked away trying to salvage what knowledge she knew by the word. She recalled a past memory of her friends telling horror stories how if you ventured too much out at night that the Collectors would come to take you away. She rubbed it off as a way to scare children to make sure they wouldn't leave the compound and get lost. She never knew that the beings were actually real. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I heard some of Shepard's other squad mates talking about it. This may be worse than Saren." The sudden silence in the room made Garrus stop from saying anything else and he noticed the more focus stare from Andromeda. "What is it?"

"Your face..." The young brown haired woman gently reached out to touch the damaged area, although he quickly grasped her hand, catching her off guard, causing her to let out a small gasp of surprise.

Hearing her, Garrus relaxed his grip some as he looked at her a bit sternly. "Don't. It will be fine."

"Is everything alright?" The doctor spoke out from across the room making the Turian glance over at Chakwas who had a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes." Garrus gave one more look to Andromeda whose eyes pleaded him not to go. "I need to work on my calibrations." Pausing at the doctor, he took one of the medpacks from the top of her pile. "Thank you for the medpack."

Clearing her throat feeling a bit uncomfortable in interrupting to whatever was transpiring in the room before her arrival, Chakwas walked over to the cabinet to put up the medpacks, which was already stocked up. "I think a nice glass of Ice Brandy may hit the spot, don't you agree?"

14


	15. Chapter 15

Andromeda scrunched her nose at the plate of food. Her fingers agile on the two similar shaped instruments that the woman in front of her referred to as "chopsticks."

"Well go on." The black hooded woman coaxed eagerly.

"What did you refer to this as again?" Andromeda glanced up, catching Kasumi's almost hidden eyes.

"Sushi. I managed to buy some ingredients from a vendor on the Citadel. Try it." She gingerly snatched up a piece in front of her with her own chopsticks. Carefully inserting the front into her mouth, she bit down slowly to savor her past memory.

Andromeda watched on with a confused look at the woman's reaction and then looked back at her own piece of food. Taking the roll between the chopsticks, she squeezed a bit too hard on the make shift vice causing the roll to fall apart on her plate. Frustrated, she corrected her form and attempted once more. "Careful…." Kasumi reached over to help her, adjusting her fingers properly on the two sticks. "It will take practice."

"How did you guys eat like this?" Andromeda questioned as she continued to fumble to recover her food.

"With practice," Kasumi replied back soothingly as she got another roll perfectly and then let Andromeda lift the item up to her mouth to bite down.

The texture was something that Andromeda was not accustomed to. On Eden Prime, she grew up on cooked vegetables and meat. Even with all the exotic alien food found on the Citadel, nothing tasted like this before. The rice was soft and the meat was somewhat soft and almost slippery. It barely had taste as it glided gently down her throat. The spices were not too bland or spicy. "Mmm…not bad." Andromeda critiqued. "So what exactly is this again?"

"Sushi…that particular roll had rice, and eel."

Hearing the last word, Andromeda could almost picture the slimy creature slithering among her insides. A wave of nausea crawled up her chest, but she took deep breaths to try to keep it down. "Want another piece?" Kasumi continued her conversation, as she picked up another roll with her chopsticks. "I cannot wait to teach Rupert this recipe."

Andromeda silently held up her hand to reject her offer. She hoped that she could keep the nausea down. "Where did you say you were from again?" She asked instead, trying to figure out what kind of culture could eat and endure foods like this.

"Japan." Kasumi replied after chewing the last piece of her roll. "It's a country on Earth. When this is all over with, I plan on returning there. You should come with me. Keiji would have been so jealous…" She laughed a little at the last sentence to her own private joke.

"I bet you still miss him…" Andromeda commented, picking up her new found friend's sadness. During her last few days aboard the Normandy since her arrival from Omega, she found the time to be quite pleasurable when one of Shepard's teammates, Kasumi Goto, came to visit her.

As long as Andromeda stayed within the perimeters of the infirmary, and the mess hall, Shepard didn't really seem to care. Andromeda was just happy that she finally had someone to talk to and it kept her mind off of Garrus.

"Just like you miss Garrus right now." Kasumi smiled gently, her answer totally catching the ship's extra passenger off guard. "I think you two would be a cute couple. One of you just needs to make the move."

Blushing, Andromeda nervously looked over at the other shipmates to try to pick up on their private conversations. "He's a Turian, Kasumi." She jumbled her words as she tried to find a way to blow her off.

"So? Is there some law in Council Space or the Traverse that forbids humans from being with Turians? I have seen it…even among mercenaries. "The Asian woman persisted. Pushing herself away from the table, she stood up and started to move towards the direction of her quarters on that deck. "Come by later when we dock on Ilium, I have something for you."

"We are on a mission, Kasumi, not to promote fraternization among crewmates." Shepard barked as he and the others on his squad were preparing in the Armory six hours later.

"I understand that, Shepard. I'm only asking this in the best interest of your friend. Besides, Andromeda is a passenger aboard this vessel and technically not part of the crew." Kasumi pressed on.

Aggravated, Shepard quickly flashed a glance over to his Krogan squad mate, Grunt, and Jacob, wanting to know their thoughts on this. Jacob remained quiet altogether while Grunt shook his head. "The Commander's right. Garrus must be weak if he needs a female for other than breeding." Grunt aimed his shotgun at the wall to line up his accuracy.

"I need my crew at their best and to keep their personal lives personal. If Garrus is that shaken about what happened on Omega, then maybe he should not be part of this mission. There's too much at stake. "The commander added on as he stared at the protesting crewmate in annoyance.

ask

"All I'm requesting is permission for both Garrus and Andromeda to go ashore on Nos Astra for two hours. I'll monitor their time to make sure they are back before you and the others return with your next dossier." Kasumi determined not to give up on her inquiry. 

This time before Shepard had a chance to reject her again, Jacob spoke up. "Commander, the Illusive Man did suggest that everyone be at their best for this mission. If something is bothering Garrus that bad, then maybe he needs to fix it."

"Fine. Two hours, Kasumi and I want them back on this ship is that clear?" The older man replied sternly.

"Understood, Commander." Kasumi tried to hold back any excitement in her voice.

"I won't have any remorse leaving them both." Shepard motioned to the door for his squad. "We better go."

Watching Commander Shepard and his squad leave the ship, Joker looked down the bridge at Kelly Chambers and then shook his head as he returned his attention on his diagnostics. Both exhausted and eager, Kasumi paused at the elevator, already anticipating the red head's question. "Did it work?"

"Phase One is complete. Now it's time for Phase Two and Phase Three. You sure you can handle this?"

"Of course!" The Yeomen squealed in delight. "I cannot believe that I get to play matchmaker aboard the Normandy! This is so much fun!"

The younger woman's tone caught the attention of a few workers from their consoles and the two quieted down. "Just make sure he's up here in twenty minutes. " Kasumi entered the elevator.

"You can count on me." Kelly smiled as she joined her.

"Garrus?" Kelly Chamber piped up timidly as she approached the Turian in the forward batteries.

"Yes Miss Chambers?" Garrus whirled around to address her.

"I have been studying your psych profile since your boarding on the Normandy. Given your past history with Sidonis and what transpired on Omega, I have come to offer some advice to help your progression." A lump now formed in the red head's throat as she spoke. Suddenly she felt very nervous on trying to convince the Turian to go ashore. She already mentally identified the reason why: the knowing that she may be pairing up two different species thrilled her. Kelly almost seemed to be slightly jealous of Andromeda for having a possible relationship with an alien, given the Yeomen's nature to be an xenophiliac.

Looking back at his diagnostic scans that he decided to start while Shepard and his team went on Nos Astra, he replied, "Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations."

"_Damnit..."_ Kelly bit her lip.

"Well here it is," Kasumi brought out a fancy, dark purple dress from her items that she stowed away from her past missions as a thief.

"It's beautiful…." Andromeda softly traced her fingertips across the soft fabric as the woman held the dress up for her.

"Believe it or not, I stole that when Keiji and I had an argument. You should have seen the look on his face when I brought this home."

"Why?"

"I told him in my life that I would never wear a dress so when I brought this home as sort of a peace offering, it brought a smile to his face."

"You wore this for him?" Andromeda asked, her blue eyes still transfixed on the garment's sheer beauty.

"Of course not." Kasumi laughed. "The irony of me stealing this what made him smile….I sure do miss it…" Her words trailed off.

"I can't wear this…" Andromeda removed her hand away.

"Yes you can. Now put it on." Kasumi playfully shoved the dress up against her.

"It means a lot to you." Andromeda looked at her unsurely.

"Well someone has to wear it. I mean what good is a dress if you don't wear it right? Besides the style is similar to an Asari so you'll have no problem fitting in." Kasumi turned her back to give the younger woman some privacy to unclothe.

Undressing and slipping the dress on, Andromeda was relieved that it fit her well. Turning back around, Kasumi smiled as she stepped back to admire the view. "You look good. You should wear this more often and I know for certain that Garrus will find you even more attractive."

"Thanks, Kasumi, I don't know what-" Andromeda paused in midsentence. "Garrus?"

"Of course! I have planned a special evening for you two on Nos Astra."

"But Shepard said…"

"I took care of it."

"I'm sure that Andromeda will be fine on her own on Nos Astra. It's an Asari homeworld." Kelly Chambers coaxed soothingly to the Turian as the two boarded the elevator. She decided to change her approach a bit and induce a little of reverse psychology. The plan was going along much better than she planned to her great delight.

"It's also the gateway to the Traverse. Walk down the wrong alley or sign the wrong contract and you can fall off the grid. Face it, it's no better than Omega." Garrus argued.

"If you're sure, Garrus." Kelly shrugged, happily noting that the Turian seemed tense about wanting to protect Andromeda from being on her own. She bit her tongue to not let any squeals of excitement escape her mouth.

The doors to the elevator slid open and they stepped out to approach the boarding dock where Kasumi and Andromeda stood. As he neared, Garrus' avian eyes remained on Andromeda. She was wearing a dress that resembled close to what the Asari wore: It was long covering her entire body, the main color was a dark purple and the middle was a soft pale cream color. The dress clung to her body just perfect to highlight her curves. Oddly, Andromeda had worn less revealing outfits in Chora's Den or on Omega in the Afterlife, however, things between them seemed to be less tense and everything about her just attracted him differently. Being mostly accustomed to what Turian females were like, he wasn't even sure what part of the female body he should compliment, but whatever it was, he felt his body longing for it.

Making their way through the docking port to the markets, Andromeda glanced around her surroundings nervously, trying to make her heart pace decrease. All of a sudden since they both departed the Normandy alone, she felt herself becoming timid.

An announcement over the port's docking area seemed to have released the tension between the two. "_Team work…Confidence. When you join the Blue Suns Mercenary group, you're getting a crash course in life. Join today and find out about our incentive program, sign up bonuses and retirement options. Blue Suns, we'll cut you a path to the future._" Once the announcer ended his advertisement, Garrus and Andromeda simultaneously cleared their throats; their thoughts the same on how they felt from the male's words.

"I told Kelly this place was just like Omega…" Garrus said beneath his breath as he shifted his body a bit uncomfortably.

"Hmm…maybe I should sign back up." Andromeda teased with a smile as they walked out onto the market area.

"What for?" Garrus asked in a serious tone, obviously missing her teasing remark.

"Well maybe I could get an extra bonus for turning in Archangel," She whispered softly with a smirk as she casually held onto his arm.

Chuckling, Garrus didn't flinch by her touch and continued his walk with her. "I'm sure they would like that."

The market exchange area was completely open and the constant sound of transports flying by in traffic polluted the air. Circular kiosks were placed about twenty feet apart from one another with mostly Asari and Volus standing nearby. The Volus appeared to be the number one customers in this particular area. Salarians and Turians stood to the side talking amongst one another, but didn't seem to be all that interested in buying goods or services.

"So where exactly are we going?" Andromeda asked. She silently noted that the vendors differed a lot than on Omega. The vendors on Omega would openingly encourage you to buy items from them, to whereas the Asari preferred for you to browse their kiosks to make your own selections.

"There's a bar just up the stairs called Eternity. Perhaps we can go there to have a drink?" The Turian suggested as he motioned up the steps.

The soft beats and rhythm flowed throughout Eternity. The tempo was a lot slower in pace than on Omega, but it had a more of a seductive nature like in Chora's Den. Surprisingly, Andromeda didn't see any dancers except for one. The young maiden Asari was dancing very provocatively on a private table in front of a male Salarian, male Turian and a male human. Her focus appeared to be more on the Salarian but clearly the human had more of her attention. The Salarian didn't seem to be too impressed and the human was practically drooling over himself. "I don't understand! Humans celebrate wedding contracts by tempting infidelity? It makes no sense!" The Salarian protested.

"Calm down, man! Don't embarrass me in front of the stripper." The human argued in a harsh whisper.

"Some things never change." Garrus shook his head as he continued over towards the bar table.

"Maybe I should try that." Andromeda nudged his arm playfully, trying to loosen his mood.

"Trust me, hon, I did that myself when I was a maiden. I regret it." The Asari barkeeper replied to Andromeda's comment, overhearing their conversation. However, it wasn't difficult to watch their reaction. Every patron who came in instantly looked on to the Salarian's bachelor's party. "Can I get ya anything?"

"Something not that strong." Garrus replied for them. He pretty much read Andromeda's mind by the question. They both didn't plan on getting drunk and being carried back to the ship.

"Never thought I would see you Turians wimp out." The barkeeper chuckled as she pulled out two glasses from the shelf below her. Catching her customer's surprised expressions, she held up a hand. "Sorry, my dad was a Krogan. I'll be sure to make that yours, sweetie, is accustomed to your dextrose amino acids." She poured Garrus' glass first with a light green liquid and then followed suit with Andromeda but her drink appeared to be more of a soft blue. "Gotta be careful. You two on your honeymoon? I think that is what the humans have."

Garrus and Andromeda nearly choked on their drinks by the Asari's words. Even though Turians never really used the word, Garrus heard of it and he knew the meaning. Andromeda felt her entire face turn red by the sheer thought of her and Garrus being that seriously involved…as much as she deeply wanted it. "I guess not." The Asari continued, observing their reaction.

"We are passing by." Garrus cleared his throat as he quickly downed his drink. He glanced over at Andromeda who gave him a smile.

"Hey everyone!" A male called out from the bar's entrance. Everyone turned their heads to see a blonde male enter Eternity. He seemed to be pretty well cut with a beard and probably in his late thirties. The odd thing about him was that he was wearing N7 armor, which matched the same armor that Commander Shepard wore. "My name is Conrad….Conrad Verner. I just came in from a top secret mission from the Council. That's right, I'm a _Spectr_e! I'm willing to help! Just give me your problems to solve!"

"You gotta be kidding…." The Asari bar keep rolled her eyes as she continued her way down to the other end of the table to clean up.

"This should be interesting…" Garrus muttered as he turned his back to the Spectre.

"I didn't know that we had another human Spectre…" Andromeda whispered as she turned around, following Garrus' suit, still sipping on her drink. She was also trying to figure out how Garrus managed to drink all of his already. She assumed that perhaps his was not as potent as hers.

"You don't…" Garrus replied.

"Thank you…thank you…" Conrad waved to the patrons as he made his way closer to the bar table, truly oblivious to the fact that no one seemed to care about his presence. "Barkeep!" He called to the Asari as he stood next to Andromeda.

"Can I help you?" The Asari walked over to where he was.

"I want a discount for my tab. I'm a Spectre after all."

Andromeda rolled her eyes. This Conrad was unbelievable. "Sorry, I don't do discounts and this is not Council Space."

"I could have saved you! " The male whined.

"Look, hon. I don't need saving…I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself."

"Fine…you'll regret it. Just give me a beer." Conrad pouted.

Not really wanting to engage in conversation with the knockoff Spectre, Garrus gave Andromeda a silent head gesture as he turned to walk away. "Hey. Nice to see a fellow human in here." Conrad spoke up to Andromeda as he tapped her shoulder.

"Uh, you too…" She politely mumbled as she continued to follow Garrus away.

"What? That Turian won't let you talk to me? If he's bothering you…" Conrad growled.

"The only one that is bothering her is you." Garrus turned back around to confront him.

"Oh? So now you're controlling her! She's not beneath you," Conrad yelled back as he pressed his chest out to seem bigger than he really was.

"Huh? Now wait a minute-" Andromeda began but Garrus quickly cut her off.

"Controlling her?" Garrus scoffed.

"I have seen your kind! Commander Shepard was able to stand up to Saren, the Turian and so I will stand up against you!" Conrad continued his aggression.

Andromeda winced at the male's words…she already knew the outcome. Just a nanosecond from completing his sentence, Garrus was up on him. Pushing the man up back against the bar, knocking over several glasses, he kept one hand around the male's neck like a vice. "My kind?" The Turian hissed. "I fought against Saren…"

The man's total attitude deflated as he cowered below his aggressor, whimpering like a young Varren pup. The look in Garrus' eyes was the same as it was on Omega, dark and cold. Before Andromeda had a chance to step in to intervene, a small warp barrier engulfed the two combatants and removed them apart. The same blue aura glowed around the Asari. "Sorry, boys. Can't have fighting in here. It will come out of my pay."

Once the barrier dissipated, Conrad gave Garrus one more look and then stomped out of Eternity like a child who just was grounded. "You going to be ok? I wish you did kill him." The Asari questioned.

"Yeah…" Garrus kept his look away.

"Look, there's a private room across Eternity. Why don't you go there to finish up your drinks? It's on me."

"Thank you…" Andromeda replied sadly as she looked onto her friend with worry.

The private room was just large enough for two sofas , however, neither Garrus nor Andromeda sat down. Garrus faced the wall with both fists clenched. Andromeda looked on worriedly with both glasses of alcohol in her hands. "Garrus…?"

"I'm _not_ like him…" Garrus seethed.

"Who?" Andromeda sat the glasses down on the table between both couches.

"Saren."

"I know you're not…" Andromeda gently placed her hand delicately on his shoulder. "That guy was just an asshole."

"You-you're right…" Garrus sighed hard as he turned slowly around to face her. "I shouldn't have acted out like I did."

"He deserved it."

"No…I guess I always have been a hot head." Garrus chuckled a little. "I just felt…I don't know…"

"Garrus…tell me. Please." Andromeda pressed on she stepped closer, trying her best to keep her blue eyes locked on his. She couldn't let him deter away…not now.

"I don't know what has come over me…when he talked to you…I just felt…like I had to get you away. I didn't want him near you." Sighing hard the Turian walked towards the other end of the small room. "Am I going crazy?"

"You're not crazy, Garrus!" Andromeda chased after him and placed herself once more in front of him. "Don't shut me out like this…"

"I feel so out of control…"

Before giving him another word, Andromeda leaned up and gently placed her lips on his.

12


	16. Chapter 16

Garrus exhaled gently as he felt Andromeda's warm soft lips press against his mouth. All the tension that had built up inside him prior just seemed to dissipate. His composure laxed as he reached up with his right hand and slowly ran his talons through her brown hair. Each strand gliding along the razor tips sending chills throughout his body.

Andromeda closed her eyes as she felt him caress her hair giving her a quick sensation as goose bumps formed along her skin. Suddenly it felt like they were the only two beings on the busy gateway to the Traverse. How she wanted more…

Parting mouths and nuzzling her forehead, Garrus slowly maneuvered his talons across her cheekbone and slowly down her face as his avian eyes never left her own. How his body desired more…all kinds of sensations hitting every nerve ending and it was stronger than any medigel that Dr. Chakwas could have ever given him. Fighting internally through his barrage of emotions, he stepped back.

Noticing the Turian gathering his distance, Andromeda became alarmed and fear crept into her mind. "Garrus…what is it?" She called out to him softly.

"We should return to the Normandy. I...I need to continue my upgrade on the ship's main gun." He turned and began to lead the trek back to where the ship was docked.

Standing bewildered in her own thoughts, Andromeda's body was frozen. Panic abruptly impacted her and she raced after her friend down the steps from the bar. "Is it about what just happened back there?"

"Of course not, Andromeda. I can't just let this happen. I need to stay focused on the mission and news will travel fast among the Normandy." The Turian replied as he kept his pace along the markets to the space dock.

For some reason, he wasn't even looking at her as if he did not want to engage anymore conversation with her directly. Determined to press the issue, Andromeda tried to outmatch his steps to get in front of him. Stopping him near one of the vendors, she blurted out, "Is it because I'm not a Turian?"

"Andromeda...I think you just could find something a little bit closer to home that's all." Garrus stammered as he shifted his body a bit uncomfortably. He really didn't want to explore the depth of their relationship out in the open like this.

Shaking her head in disbelief, "I don't-"

"Come on…come on, give me something!" A raspy Volus yelled out in frustration at the kiosk near where they stood cutting off Andromeda's words.

"Are you shortening prefabs?" The Asari standing next to him questioned.

"Why not? I did it after Eden Prime. Paid for new exosuits for all my kids." Her short round friend boasted.

"You're insane."

Overhearing the two and the familiar name of her home colony, Andromeda disengaged her conversation with Garrus and stepped closer to listen further. Already realizing what may happen, Garrus tried to step out to stop her. "Andromeda, we should _really_ be going back."

The smaller alien took several excited breaths from his respirator as his protected eyes stared at the screen in anticipation. His hands squeezing one another in such premature excitement. "Run, you bastards…give up your colony plans." He slightly chuckled menacingly.

"Excuse me," Andromeda tapped the Volus on the shoulder as she looked at the monitor to see plots and figures displaying all over. "Can you explain what you are doing? I'm new here."

"I wait for the insignificant unmanageable human colonies to be deserted from attacks and then I steal their plans and resell them to corporations. Particularly the Sirta Foundation and Binary Helix." He then eyed Andromeda wearingly. "It is all very legal. You could say it has become a buyer's market," He chortled.

"Why you-" Andromeda growled as she pulled her right fist back to strike as the thought of this pathetic Volus making it rich off her friends' and family's deaths made her blood boil in her veins like hot plasma.

"Don't!" Garrus grabbed her arm, anticipating her move as he pulled her body closer to him and further away from the greedy alien.

The Volus still cowered with his arm protecting his face; his Asari companion gasping in shock as she side stepped to put more distance between her and the aggressive human. "Are you mad?" The Volus screamed.

"Let me go, Garrus!" Andromeda struggled violently in his arms as she clenched her teeth.

"He's not worth it!" Garrus shouted over her as he kept a firm.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself, Andromeda jerked away from the Turian as she wiped the hot tears from her eyes. Giving one last look to the Volus she turned and stomped off towards the ship.

"Put your human on a leash, Turian…" The Volus wisped angrily in between breaths.

"You're lucky I stopped her. " Garrus responded as he followed Andromeda.

Finally stopping at the Normandy's portal, Andromeda placed her hand on the door and caught a few more deep breaths as her body trembled slightly from still being upset. The painful memories of her parents being slaughtered by the Krogan when she was a child flooded her mind. She felt scared and alone in the universe like when she did when Nihlus found her. How she almost longed to crawl into his arms and cry until the pain surpassed.

"Are you alright?" A soft voice inquired behind her. She felt Garrus' hand on her shoulder and she almost confused it to be Nihlus' instead.

"I shouldn't have made a scene like that…" Andromeda laughed a little as she turned to finally face him; guilt clearly shown all over her face.

"That sick son-of-a-bitch deserved much more than that. Almost wish we were on Omega again."

"Why? Miss the mercs already?" Andromeda teased trying to self light up her mood.

"No matter where I go there is always injustice, but being able to do something about it….without restriction…" The Turian's voice darkened as his eyes betrayed his true feeling at the present moment.

The same demeanor on the asteroid station was coming out again…something that Andromeda feared more than Saren himself. Before being able to question his words, the hatch to the ship opened and Joker stood there with a playful smirk on his face. "You know you don't have to have special clearance to board the ship."

"Funny." Garrus chuckled as he motioned Andromeda to enter first.

"So was I interrupting anything?" Joker's voice perked up as the two passed him.

"No."

"Damnit..." The pilot muttered as he limped back to his flight chair. "Nothing fun happens on this ship anymore. Glad to see you still have that pole up your ass, Garrus."

Giving silent looks to one another, Garrus slowed down his pace to provide Andromeda more distance in front of him so it wouldn't look like to the staring crewmates that they were walking together. "Garrus?" Kelly Chambers called over from her post. "A private message came in for you while you were away. Shall I patch it through the main terminal here on this deck?"

Quickly glancing over at Andromeda, Garrus nodded and walked over to the Yeomen to further engage the conversation. Andromeda smiled some as she stepped onto the elevator. It looked like Shepard wasn't back on board and this gave her enough time to explore some of the other decks of the ship.

Seconds later, the elevator came to a slowing halt and then the doors slid open. Stepping out, Andromeda looked out the hall's windows at the cargo bay where the shuttle was stationed. The humming from the engines was much louder on this level. Leisurely walking past the windows to see what else was in the exposed area, a sharp feminine voice called out to her from behind, "So who the fuck are you?"


	17. Chapter 17

Pivoting around, Andromeda's blue eyes fell upon a person she never seen before. Unlike every other human on board, she wasn't wearing a Cerberus uniform…or for that matter any kind of military standard issue clothing. Seeing her, made Andromeda feel more in place aboard the vessel. This hairless woman with her back pressed against a wall in a casual position, arms crossed, had on combat boots, black ripped pants and some type of torso "garment" that just barely covered the nipples of her breasts. Though with all the dark tattoos that covered her body, people would almost seem to forget that she had on fewer clothes than the dancers on Omega or in Chora's Den.

"Why the fuck are you staring at me?" The woman snapped back, catching Andromeda's long glance. Her shadowy hard glare at the younger woman in front of her was like daggers. Her body composure seemed to be laxed, however, the look in her eyes was more like a Varren ready to stalk a Pyjak.

Stepping back with her fingertips gliding across the elevator call button, the colonist from Eden Prime stammered, "I…I'm sorry…I think I have the wrong deck."

Leaning back up from the wall, the hostile female walked past Andromeda towards the engineering area. "Not my ship…so I don't give a shit where you go. Just don't bother me…I'm not here to make friends."

Gathering some courage as she heard the elevator approaching to her destination, Andromeda spoke up, "I'm….Andromeda Kryik." She gulped as the urge to stop talking crept up her throat. "Are you part of Shepard's team?"

This time the female laughed as she stopped in her tracks. "That's cute. You called his group a 'team'." I'm just here for the ride until I get the answers I want from Cerberus and then I'm out of here." Her black pupils then eyed Andromeda up and down as a sadistic smile spread across the bald woman's lips. "Aren't you that chick that Garrus has been screwin?"

Color seemed to drain from her face as the question petrified her to almost stone. Lips trembling, she desperately tried to scavenge up the scattered words that failed to come to mind. All there was, was a mental image of her and Garrus sharing the same bed. Amused seeing the dark haired woman's reaction, the other pressed on, "Never had a Turian…maybe I'll try it." Her silver stud shined as the tip of her tongue reached around her lips emphasizing the cruel thought in her mind.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing? Did you finally come crawling out of your piss hole?" A gruff voice called from the other end of the hall.

An older male in a yellowish freelance combat uniform stared in their direction with his one good eye; his jaw clenched tightly. Rolling her eyes in aggravation, the woman now revealed as Jack flipped off the intruding male and sidestepped away from Andromeda. "Zaeed, where the hell did you go? Thought Shepard kept you in with the garbage."

"Had to take a piss…is that against regulation?" Zaeed retorted

.

"Do whatever the fuck you want." Jack continued her way to engineering. Even as the doors began to close, the heavy sound of her boots hitting the steps echoed.

Turning without another word, the man made his way back into his own section of the ship. Curious, Andromeda decided to not leave the deck just yet and quietly followed the man. She settled on to press her luck and hope Shepard wouldn't come to look for her. Stopping at the entranceway, Andromeda heard shuffling as to what sounded like armaments and handling of some kind of weapon. "Come on in if you want to look around. I don't like people spying on me." Zaeed called out as he detected her presence. Lifting his eyes from the gun, he looked in her direction as she entered the small room. "Zaeed Massani, part of Shepard's crew on a contract. You don't look like you can fight too well…" He paused as he lifted his weapon towards the wall and checked the sight. "And you don't look like you're tight enough to be part of Cerberus. "

"I'm not…I'm sort of waiting for Shepard to take me back to the Citadel. I was picked up on Omega with one of the dossiers." Andromeda clasped her fingers behind her back as she stayed close to the entrance. Despite his rough appearance with the messy hair, deep scar across his face and a replacement glass eye, this man was more talkative than Jack. However, with no one really knowing of her current whereabouts on the Normandy, she decided to play it safe until she became more comfortable with the entire crew; especially the "abnormal" ones. After all, she was not really part of this mission and held no true value to Commander Shepard, despite Garrus' eminent protests.

"Omega?" Zaeed chuckled as he placed his weapon upon the table in front of him. "Hell of a place. Gambled there once or twice….you don't look like the type to live there."

"I was a sold as a slave to Aria…" Andromeda's voice trailed off as a familiar symbol caught her interest across the room. Taking longer strides, she quickly picked up piece of an armor that had the Blue Suns insignia on it.

Checking his sidearm, Zaeed chuckled a bit in amusement by her reply, "Aria? Must have been one hell of a fight to get off the station, the Queen bitch is hard to negotiate with. I had a mission once contracted by her." His good eye glanced over seeing what she was looking at. "You know that marking?"

"Suns…"

"I'm impressed...bet you saw that a lot on Omega. Is Tarak still running it there? Batarian son-of-a-bitch…took a lot of my men years ago under his command."

"You fought against him?" Andromeda placed the armor back down and pushed back the hair that fell down the side of her face.

"No...I created the Suns with that backstabbing bastard, Vido Santiago. Tarak had a good business on Omega with the Batarian slavers…claimed he needed more troops…He was a coward. Heard he had a handful with Archangel…ruined his business." Zaeed spat down at the floor then smiled as much as he would ever have it appeared. "Hoped that Archangel would get rid of him."

Listening in on his words and how he only brought up the term "Archangel" and not Garrus, Andromeda concluded that this bounty hunter was never told who Archangel was and probably due to his old ties with the Suns. If word got out to any of the merc groups who Archangel really was and that he was still alive…

Pushing the armor aside, Andromeda's cast fell upon an almost concealed container inside the bulky piece of equipment. With her back in front of the male, she gingerly pulled the container out further to study its contents. A red particle substance filled up about half of the same...with her C-Sec training, she already came to the conclusion that it was Red Sand: An illegal narcotic on the Citadel, but was found in the dominant parts of the Traverse, especially on the Ilium.

"You a shooter?" Zaeed asked as he lingered around the side of her, catching her off guard and almost causing her to drop the container onto the table.

"A what?" Andromeda fumbled to shove the container back into its concealed area.

Amused by her pronounced virginity to the narcotic, Zaeed chuckled, "Didn't you know? That's how it's dominantly used now. Supposedly it make it more potent if you inject it directly into the blood stream and the effects are longer. Though…terrible hangover once you come off of it."

"You use Sand?" Andromeda asked as if she was appalled by this…even though she was talking to an ex-Blue Sun founder and bounty hunter.

"A couple of times." The bounty hunter shrugged. "Never did like feeling like shit afterwards. Took many months to finally come off of the stuff. Now I just keep it, hoping to make some creds."

"You sell it? This much is illegal in Council Space."

Snatching the container out of her hand quickly as if offended by her comment, Zaeed glared hard, "So what? We ain't in damn Council Space so you can't arrest me. Besides dealers know how to fade away."

Pausing to utter some kind of sloppy apology, Andromeda's mind quickly filled with the images of the event to where Harkin tricked her on the Citadel and sold her to Blue Sun Batarian slavers for some of the crimson dust. "Fade…." The word lingered in her mind now over and over. "I gotta go!" Rushing towards the elevator, the urgency pressed deep within to tell Garrus about Harkin's affiliation with the Suns which led to her capture.

The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open making Andromeda come face to face with Commander Shepard. "Where the hell have you been?" The Commander growled through clenched teeth.

"I went to the wrong floor…and got kind of lost…" Andromeda blurted out innocently , giving a weak smile.

The Commander was not buying it. "EDI." He glanced up to the ceiling.

"Yes, Commander?" The Artificial Intelligence program replied.

"Put a full trace on Andromeda. If she should leave this deck, I want to be notified, is that understood?"

"Affirmative. Logging entry now."

Shepard's cold eyes fell back down to her. "Go back to Dr. Chakwas and stay until we arrive at the Citadel. We should be there in 0700 hours. "

"But…" Andromeda pressed on.

"_Go_ now." Pointing towards the infirmary, Shepard stood in place until the stubborn protesting woman finally made a move towards the direction he required. Satisfied, he continued his walk towards the Forward Battery sector.

Hesitating in her step, realizing that she was no longer in the Commander's line of sight, Andromeda slowed down her pace, watching the strict hero of the Citadel meet up with Garrus. Sidestepping, she tried to get into Garrus' vision and pushed her face to make an expression full of urgency to capture his attention, but the Turian's demeanor shocked her. She couldn't make out what was being said between the two, but complete rage could be seen boiling through the Turian's veins, to the point where he was slightly shaking. Fire burned in his eyes, brighter than what was on Omega. He seemed to be pressing some kind of issue with the Commander. Desperate to hear the conversation, Andromeda changed her course and took a few steps dangerously towards the two. Garrus' voice was desperate and nowhere near calm. The only word she could make out was "Sidonis."

Noticing that the Commander changed his position from where he stood as he listened to the trouble crewmate, Andromeda gave up her attempt to hear more and walked briskly to her "quarters" before Shepard could see her. The meeting with Garrus would have to wait, but she would remember to speak about what was troubling him once they docked on the Citadel. 


	18. Chapter 18

"Hey did you hear about what happened to Ferris Fields?" A male voice echoed in Andromeda's slumber as she stirred gently in between the level of sleep and consciousness.

"Yeah…the whole colony was taken…don't you have family there?" Another person replied, this time the voice was more feminine.

"My brother…he was stationed there…I sent a message out on the last comm buoy…" Despair struck the male as the words were barely able to escape from his lips.

Opening her eyes, letting them adjust from the fuzziness, Andromeda stared up at the ceiling of the Crew Quarters. Leaning up slowly, she stared down at the table where a man and woman sat in idle chatter. "Where are we?" Andromeda questioned as she yawned. She wasn't too sure how long she slept but it felt like it wasn't enough.

"Citadel…we docked about an hour ago. Waiting on the order to go ashore….I need to hit a terminal." The sorrowful looking male casually glanced up her way from where he sat. Pain was seen clearly across his face and the sense of urgency.

"Garrus…" The name crept up Andromeda's throat as her thoughts instantly fell upon her Turian friend and the fire that was seen in his eyes hours ago. Jumping off the top bunk, she hurriedly fixed her clothes as she made her way to the doorway. Just as she was about to walk through, she came face to face with another crewmate on the other side.

"Keelah…" The crewmate stepped back as their hidden face gazed through the visor.

"Tali?" Andromeda blinked in confusion, totally unprepared for the particular crewmate's presence. She never had direct contact with the Quarian years ago when she was aboard the Normandy, but had seen her in her passing.

"Shepard asked me to escort you back to C-Sec so you may check back in. Are you ready?" The Quarian stood dutifully in front of her as she glanced over Andromeda's shoulder to see who else was in the room.

"May I have a moment to talk to Garrus?" Andromeda nodded her head as she walked past her to where the Crew Level opened up at the elevator.

"Garrus and the others left here as soon as we docked." Tali followed, her voice somewhat metallic as it came out through the breathing apparatus. The Quarians' envirosuits were much different than the Volus'. The suits for the Volus seemed to have to pump their atmosphere every so often and even more so when they were talking to another. The suits for the Quarians were also made of a thinner substance and probably not as heavy or straining on the body. The only similarity was that no one really knew what the Volus or the Quarians looked like under their suits.

Defeated, Andromeda stopped as her blue eyes stared at the forward battery door. If only she had awoken sooner…

Walking down the corridor that ran in between C-Sec command center and the interrogation rooms, Andromeda and Tali were greeted by a Turian officer at the main "entrance" into the station. The brown colored Turian eyed them both, more so on Tali, which made Andromeda's companion give a slight scoff of annoyance through her mouth apparatus. "Hold it there…" The officer raised up his right hand to stop them from entering. "Sergeant Haron…name?"

"Lieutenant Andromeda Kryek…C-Sec…I have been missing for-"

"By the spirits! Kryek! You're alive!" The Turian's demeanor softened as he opened his arms in joyous disbelief. "What happened to you?" Haron then paused and glanced again in Tali's direction. "Was the Quarian in on your kidnapping?"

"You bosh'tet!" Tali snapped back defensively as she moved forward ready to strike the accusing Turian officer.

"Tali, wait!" Andromeda grabbed her arm and kept her just inches away from Haron. With clenched teeth, she glared coldly at the Sergeant. "Sir, I don't think it was prudent of you to make that judgment right away of my friend here. She is merely on order by Commander Shepard to escort me to see Captain Bailey. "

"Okay, okay…so it was my mistake," Haron held up his hands and then shook his head as he clicked his ear piece. "Lieutenant Kryek is here to see Captain Bailey…okay…I'll let her know." He then pressed several places on his terminal screen. "The Captain is out and will be back in later this afternoon. You may proceed inside and I'll let him know that you're back on the station."

Seeing that Tali was still in a fighting mood over the Turian's words, Andromeda sighed somewhat with relief and tugged her friend's arm, coaxing her to give up the fight and join her inside the station.

The Zakera Ward seemed like it never changed from Andromeda's disappearance. The entire level was bustling with different species commuting to their jobs or out to grab a bite to eat. Several lingered along the walls in private dialogues with one another. The nearby Galactic Newsstand continued its report, but the sounds of talking, transports that flew outside and the constant alert of a transport departure seemed to tune it out unless you were standing nearby. Chancing that it was safe to finally release Tali's arm in hopes that she wouldn't turn back around to give Sergeant Haron a punch that he really deserved, she stepped out in the direction that would lead up to the level where Dark Star was. "Are you okay, Tali? I'm sure Sergeant Haron really regrets what he said…"

"My kind always gets this kind of treatment whenever they land on any place other than being on the Flotilla. We are considered to be thieves….lower than any other class." The Quarian continued her outburst, except in several words that Andromeda was not familiar with.

"Why does your kind venture out if you are not wanted by other species? I wouldn't want to be treated like this…" Andromeda piped in trying to release whatever frustration her companion had as they made their way up the stairs. As they walked, Andromeda noticed wary glances that were given by the regulars as they walked back. However, Tali seemed to have ignored this or simply was too accustomed to it to really care.

"At a certain age, each Quarian must go out on a Pilgrimage and bring back something that will benefit the Flotilla. Once they achieve this, then will be able to live among others on a ship that is part of the group. Though sometimes those who go out on their Pilgrimage…do not return home…" Tali's voice softened as the last part of the sentence was barely audible.

Sensing the despair that plagued her body, Andromeda stopped just outside the club and tried her best to look at the Quarian's face. "Did you lose someone?"

"A good friend of mine, Kenn vas Neema…He went off on his Pilgrimage a few years before I did. He thought he would be able to find some salvaged parts on Omega to bring back to the Flotilla…but days after he arrived, I never heard from him. Omega is not the safest place for anyone to go…"

"I can agree with that…" Andromeda pondered at the same and then tried to remember seeing a Quarian on the asteroid station during her stay there.

"Andromeda!" A familiar voice called out snapping her out of her thoughts. Looking over in the direction that it came from, she came face to face with her long time friend, Jenna. Seconds later, Jenna was already at her side, hugging her tightly. "I cannot believe this! You're back! Where were you? What happened?" The red head asked excitedly as she finally released her.

"Very long story…" Andromeda smiled and then glanced towards the bar. "Drink?"

"You know it…!" Jenna grabbed her arm securely to help escort her inside. "This time I am not going to let you out of my sight."

"Tali, would you like to join us?"

"No, I'm heading back to the ship. Quarians don't linger too long in the open like this." Tali pivoted on her heel and swiftly made her way down the steps to the lower level before Andromeda had a chance to protest.

"Let's go!" Jenna ushered Andromeda inside, cutting her view off.

The bar was filled with the same uplifting techno music while the patrons sat around at their tables gossiping with one another. Jenna smirked over at the Turian bartender as she gingerly slipped onto the stool directly in front of him. "Hey, sweet thing, what's happening?" The tanned skinned Turian smiled back. His avian eyes then watched Andromeda take the seat next to her. "Who's your friend?"

"Don't be coy, Baden…you remember Andromeda," Jenna teased as she nudged her friend.

"Oh yeah…the C-Sec Officer! You ain't on duty are ya?" Baden winked as he reached under the counter to retrieve two glasses.

"Not yet…" Giggling Andromeda eyed her surroundings, wondering who else may recognize her there. She wasn't really digging all the sudden attention she was getting. It almost irked her…but she figured it was because her mind was elsewhere…she wanted to know where Garrus went and what was going on with him.

"I'll go see if I can find somethin' special for you both." Baden winked as he walked towards the other end of the bar to search through his stock of exotic liquors.

"So…what do you think?" Jenna nudged her friend again, snapping the brown haired woman out of her thoughts.

"About what?"

"Baden…" Jenna emphasized as she bit her lower lip. Her green eyes flashed in his direction. "Turians are amazing…let me tell you that they-"

The words finally struck Andromeda and her jaw gaped open. "You slept with him?"

"Of course… why not?" Jenna kept her eyes on the Baden's body. "After all…. you inspired me. I used to be such a xenophobe…but now…I don't think I want to go back." She laughed lightly.

"What do you mean that _I_ inspired you?" Andromeda loudly whispered as she noticed Baden was walking back towards them with a dark purple glass bottle.

"Here we are, ladies. Asari liquor….straight from Ilium. The sweetest damn stuff that you will ever have." The bartender began to pour them each half a glass of the lavender colored liquid. "Won't knock you on your ass…unless you have three shots, which I highly recommend." He leered as he set the bottle down and waited for them to try it.

Jenna was the first to pick up her glass to smell the liquid and then drank slowly while her eyes remained fixed upon her known Turian lover. "I don't think you gave this one to me before. It's different."

"Just got it off the ship this week. Stuff is expensive…but definitely worth the wait. So what you think?"

Becoming sick overhearing her friend's words and the sudden news, Andromeda gripped the glass and downed the sweet beverage with one gulp. Slamming the glass on the counter, the alcohol rushed quickly to her head making the entire room swirl with colors and blurred images.

Shocked by this, Baden couldn't help but to chuckle as he looked on. "I like your friend, Jenna. Seems like she knows how to party."

"I can too!" Jenna shot back in jealously as she grabbed her glass and forced the remainder down.

"Want another?" Baden asked as he picked up the bottle beside him, but Andromeda held up her hand and slowly slipped her body out of the stool. She was wise not to make any sudden movements. Stumbling some, she started to walk towards the entrance; she needed some air.

"Andromeda!" Jenna took her arm and led her to a nearby booth. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jenna…" Andromeda held her head as she sat down in the booth without an argument. So downing a strange beverage was not the brightest thing she done. "Just been a long trip that's all."

"You want to go back to my place? You can stay there until you get your apartment back on the Wards."

"Don't worry…it's been taking care of." A male replied as he walked to where the two women were. Andromeda lifted her head slowly to see Captain Bailey approaching with a warm smile across his lips. "Got the word that you were back…seems like a fitting place to celebrate your return."

Embarrassed at her appearance, Andromeda forced herself to sit up straighter and gave the best salute she could give in her drunken stupor. "Sir."

"At ease, Lieutenant. We are all human…I'm not going to scorn you for doing what any other person would do on this damn station. I'm glad that you are alive and safe…have time to talk to me during your reunion?"

"I'm going to chat to Baden for awhile, Andromeda….see you later?" Jenna excused herself from the booth, giving a small smile to the Captain before returning to her previous location.

Andromeda nodded her head and then motioned the Captain to take his place across from her. "Glad to see that you're still with us too, sir."

"Not much action sitting behind a desk, but it's better than fighting Geth. My family is safe and well provided for. Where were you found?"

"Omega…Batarian slavers."

"Batarian slavers on his station? Shit…so much for having this place locked down. You think those damned four eyes would stand out." Bailey aggravated, ran his hand through his thinning hair. "Any connections?"

"Harkin." Andromeda clenched her teeth as she blurted out the name. "Seems like he goes by the name Fade, he used inside knowledge to get them in for slaves in exchange for Red Sand."

"Harkin is Fade? That damned son-of-a-bitch knows all of our systems…..it will be too expensive to have it all changed out…will have to increase the security that's for sure. " He then paused to motion a nearby waitress to fill his drink order. Glancing around, he chortled some and shook his head.

"What is it, sir?"

"Commander Shepard and his squad came to my office earlier today and wanted information on the forger named Fade. I can't believe that drunken bastard would go so low…" He leaned back in his booth allow the waitress to place the glass of liquor in front of him. His tired blue eyes glanced across the table to Andromeda. "I'm just glad that you're back and safe. I cannot imagine what hell you went through on Omega."

"Sir, may I ask why Shepard wanted information on Fade?" Andromeda inquired as she inwardly tried to deduce her own conclusion on what she knew.

"No, but I sent them to the warehouse in the marketplace. Some of Fade's contacts work out of there. " Guzzling his drink down, the Captain wiped his mouth and then stood up from the booth. "Now don't get any crazy ideas on hunting him down yourself, Lieutenant. I want to see you first thing in the morning. I'll try to put you down near the nicer part of the Wards…keep you out of trouble."

Nodding her head silently, Andromeda watched her old Captain walk out of the bar and then glanced back at her friend who had about three empty glasses in front of her while she giggled at every other word that came out Baden's mouth. Shaking her head, Andromeda placed a few creds onto the table and silently left the bar.

The next morning after putting on her uniform, Andromeda stared at her reflection as she fixed her hair. Even though all she saw was herself, her eyes remained transfixed on the image.

Slumping across the door frame, Jenna smiled at her and caught her friend's surprised look in the mirror. "You really think you should go back on duty so soon? We need to have some serious fun."

Laughing a little as she placed her brush down, Andromeda turned back at the red head. "You mean the same fun you had last night? I noticed you didn't come in till just a few hours ago."

"Guilty." Jenna raised her hand as she gazed up at the ceiling letting out a soft sigh. "I think I'm in love."

"Careful, Jenna. I don't want to arrest you both for being drunk in public today." Andromeda teased as she left the apartment.

Before she had a chance to make it up to the Zakera Ward, the Captain's voice cracked in through her ear piece. "Lieutenant Kryek, no need to check in. I want you to go over near I-Nova, word is that Jalim is campaigning in that area."

"Understood, sir, but why is that threat?" Changing directions, Andromeda made her way promptly towards that area of the Wards.

"Forgot you haven't been around lately. Jalim is a racist Turian. He has an anti-human campaign and causing hostility among several patrons. He's free to say whatever he wants just make sure that it is going 'peacefully.' Any sign of trouble and you call for back up."

Making her way further to the Upper Wards, Andromeda slowed her pace as she came to Aquila Café. Standing outside the door was Jalim himself dressed in a very expensive looking suit. Casually walking by him, she noticed that his stature changed as soon as he was alert to her presence. His bird like eyes watched her just as much as she was watching him. However he seemed to be very nervous, but she gave him the impression that she was merely on patrol and had no interest in him what so ever. Going down to another store, she turned to the side to act like she was interested in some window shopping. She then noticed that a Krogan sporting a Blood Pack Merc outfit hurried out of Aquila with Jalim walking briskly at his side. Once they had a good distance away from the Café, they slowed their pace as they approached I-Nova.

Andromeda was far too familiar with the Krogan involved with the Blood Pack on Omega. They were merely used as brute thugs and Jalim was definitely expecting trouble if he hired them…or if he was using them to shakedown human merchants. As she approached cautiously, she noticed that Jalim glanced back and saw her. The anti-human politician quickly turned his head and she could hear the faint grunt of the Krogan standing next to him. "Damnit…" Andromeda cursed under her breath. Her cover was blown. If she continued to follow, she would definitely run into some trouble from the Krogan body guard.

Turning to leave, she came across a few dancers at I-Nova dancing away to fast rhythms. Surprisingly a Turian was among them….Andromeda couldn't help but to giggle. After all the talk she heard from the local groundskeeper that Turians don't dance…she wondered if he knew about this guy. The dancing Turian definitely had some moves to him.

"Lieutenant, come in." Bailey's voice cracked through her earpiece. Glancing back at Jalim, she turned around to walk away.

"All's clear, sir. Jalim is too nervous to cause any trouble. He watched me like a Vorcha the entire time."

"Hurry up and get over to the Orbital Lounge. We have a 187…get with Officer Lang on scene."

Digging through her memory banks to recall what 187 stood for, a knot formed in her stomach as fear crept inside her. Pushing through the crowd, she rushed as fast as her legs could pump to get her there.

A crowd had already formed outside the Orbital Lounge and several C-Sec officers were on scene to keep the crowd back. Stepping through the barrier, she approached a covered body where Officer Lang was knelt down beside. The young blonde hair man looked in her direction and stood up to greet her. "Sergeant Lang," He extended his hand for her to shake it.

"Lieutenant Kryek. What's the situation here, sir?" Andromeda's heart fluttered as she stared down at the covered body. She could tell by the way the fabric fell it made the definite shape of a Turian.

"Definitely Homicide…body was found by patrons." Lang motioned her to join him as he knelt down again to uncover the body just a bit to show the wound.

The body was positioned on its back and a pool of blood congealed on the floor behind the head where the definite point of entry was for the bullet. The face was all too familiar to Andromeda as bile formed in her throat and she suppressed the urge to vomit. There on the ground was Sidonis.


	19. Chapter 19

_"I'm Sidonis…a friend of Garrus. He tracked you here…what's going on?"_

"Lieutenant Kryek…?"

_"Garrus…what happened? Where's Sidonis?"_

_"He betrayed my team…he used you to get to me for the mercs…"_

"Lieutenant?"

"_Don't worry I sent out feelers…I'll find him."_

"Hey, Andromeda." Sergeant Lang gently shook Andromeda to make her come to her senses.

"Huh?" Startled, the female officer quickly placed her hand on the floor next to her to regain her balance. Her eyes fixed upon Sidonis' body in front of her once more. Liquid submerged from her tear ducts and she quickly wiped it away with her finger. Sadness built up inside her like a fierce maelstrom. She wasn't sure if it was over the loss of someone that she met on Omega or if fear made her believe strongly that Garrus was the murderer behind the Turian's death.

"Are you going to be okay? Is this….the first time you have seen a dead body? Hey…I can do the analysis, do you want to see if anyone saw what happened?" Lang's hand lingered on Andromeda's shoulder with concern as he saw the trouble in her eyes, his voice soft.

Taking a gulp and forcing all fear and panic deep within, the Lieutenant shook her head and reached into her uniform's utility compartment to retrieve a pair of gloves. Gingerly rolling Sidonis to the side, she used her free hand to open up the medical kit that the Sergeant brought on his arrival and took out a piece of cotton to swab the wound clean. The diameter of the hole to the back of the Turian's skull was just over one centimeter and impacted the softest part of the thick bone to penetrate directly through the tissue, striking the brain and killing him instantly. Andromeda closed her eyes and thanked silently that he did not suffer. However, the shot had no collateral damage and there was only one bullet wound that she could tell, the hit was of surgical precision. Eyeing Sergeant Lang as he spoke with the crowd members nearby, Andromeda could tell that no one really saw what happened, but only found the body. The hit was clean…a sniper. Standing back up and recovering Sidonis' body, the Lieutenant scanned her surroundings. Above one of the shops nearby was a ledge from the catwalk…a perfect striking point: The Killer could sneak in, take the shot and walk away before anyone could spot him or her.

"These people are not talking…no one saw a damn thing until he was dead cold on the floor." Lang grumbled in aggravation, slipping his digital recorder back into his breast pocket. "Did you find anything?"

"Professional job if you ask me…" Andromeda slipped the gloves from her hands. "This Turian was in over his head."

"I'm at a loss…didn't think the Citadel had those kind of assassins. Whoever this guy is…he was in deep shit." Lang shook his head as he looked down at the covered body. "Poor bastard…"

"You're telling me…" Andromeda muttered under her breath. "Could have been a merc…we may need to check up on merc activity in this area."

"Right…I'm going to make sure we get ballistics done on this guy. That will lead us somewhere."

"I'm going to head back and see what I can find on him in the database."

"Good luck."

Slamming his fist down hard on the desk making the monitor almost fall over, Captain Bailey stood up in anger from his chair. "What do you mean it was a professional hit?"

Lieutenant Kryek remained at attention before him. She managed to guard any of her emotions. "Sergeant Lang is going to run ballistics on the bullet, but there was only shot, sir, and no witnesses. "

"I don't believe this…just when I thought crime was dropping on the Wards. Now we have this…" Bailey sighed hard and sat back down in his chair defeated. "I want background checks done on this guy…we got a name yet?"

"I did a brief DNA scan on the scene, sir. The Turian surname would not display but his first name is Sidonis. "

"We may not have any luck on just a first name…but it's a start. See what you can find and get back to me as soon as possible, Lieutenant. "

"You can count on me, sir." Andromeda saluted once more and then turned to make her way to the communications area to hit the terminals. She just hoped that nothing out in the open would link Garrus back to him…she wouldn't know how to cover it up.

Typing furiously away at the terminal's keyboard, Andromeda noticed that there was no data to be found on Sidonis. The entire system was wiped clean. She couldn't even find his birth location on Paladen. Scooting away from the desk, Andromeda stared at the monitor and wiped her tiresome eyes. Someone hacked into C-Sec again to remove information. She couldn't tell if it was done before or after the hit. Was it Shepard? If he was involved in Garrus' payback then he would make sure that nothing would come back to him….but then again why would he care? He was a Spectre and…so it had to be Harkin! Harkin had a known business of making people "fade" away for whatever the reason would be. Judging by what happened between Garrus and Sidonis, it would make obvious sense that Sidonis would go to Harkin to be taken off the grid. Garrus must have found him.

Curiously, she switched over to the Customs log to check the daily arrivals and departures. She scanned the list until she reached the Normandy. The departure time was just one hour after the murder. The knot in Andromeda's stomach felt like it was becoming larger. All the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but she really didn't want to see the end result.

"Garrus….why…" Andromeda asked out loud as she rubbed her face in exhaustion. The Turian always seemed to have a strong sense of justice, but would he go all the way like this? Despite what the consequences would be? She had to talk to him!

"Found anything, Lieutenant?" Captain Bailey walked in causing Andromeda to wheel around in her chair to face him. It was only then that she realized how late in the day it was; no one else was in the lab and the Ward seemed almost empty behind him.

"No…" Sighing, she turned off the terminal. "Just a lot of dead ends…it seems like any record of him was erased from our database."

"You think Harkin was involved?"

"I don't know…possibly. The only way to find out would be to bring him in for questioning." However, Andromeda almost began to wonder if Garrus' quest for revenge just didn't end with Sidonis.

"If we can find the traitorous bastard. This Sidonis doesn't seem the type to be in that much trouble."

"Looks can be deceiving, sir. Whatever mess this guy was in…Harkin couldn't fix him."

"Go get some rest and then hit the extranet in 0900 hours." Bailey motioned her out of the lab. "You find any contacts and I want them questioned."

"I'm fine, sir."

"That wasn't a request…" The Captain replied back sternly.

"Yes, sir…" Andromeda mumbled playfully as she got out of the chair.

Yawning tiredly as she walked into her darkened apartment, Andromeda fumbled to find the light switch and then removed her shoes. Looking across the living room to see her terminal still on, she scurried over and brought up the messaging system. She just hoped that she could patch in with the closest comm buoy. Realizing that any messages that she makes or receives could be traced, she decided not to encrypt the message so it wouldn't be suspicious and to type it as casual as possible.

_Garrus, I'm finally settling in here on the Wards. I hope you're doing well on Shepard's next assignment. Good luck. I miss you. _

_-Andromeda _


	20. Chapter 20

_"Ms. Chambers?" _ Miranda, Shepard's second-in-command called to Yeomen Kelly Chambers through the ship's intercom system.

"Yes, mam!" Kelly responded curtly. Even though the woman was on a separate deck altogether in her office, the Yeomen stood straighter.

"_The Illusive Man would like a status update on Mordin's research. Please have him contact me so I may send in my report."_

Kelly cringed at the simple task. Biting her lip, her green eyes flashed over to the door that led to the Normandy's lab. "Mr. Solus requested that he was not to be disturbed." She recalled the previous conversation she tried to engage in with the Salarian Scientist after they left the Citadel. She was very curious about Mordin's psych profile since Shepard's notes on his first encounter were rather…vague. Her body became tense as she expected the next words from Miranda would be a direct command to barge into the over talkative scientist's area and demand that he stop what he was doing for her. However, Miranda's response was not what she expected.

"_Understood." _ The com went silent once more.

Slouching back down some, Kelly sighed with relief as the disaster was adverted and she began to scroll through the interstellar messaging system. An alert popped up indicating that a new message was received. Her fingers glided across the screen as she went to the message to archive it for Shepard; however, the recipient's name was not his. Instead it was for Garrus. "Odd…" Kelly paused her fingertips inches away from the screen as she hesitated on what to do. The official procedure would be to store it in the personnel section and notify Garrus promptly; however, the timing seemed a bit abnormal. She wouldn't expect that anyone would receive any messages just shortly from checking in on the Citadel. Curiosity getting the best of her, she decided to skim over to make sure everything was okay. She was really worried for their crewmate ever since they picked him off on Omega. She never seen such an individual troubled with immense pain over different matters. To make things worse, he never wanted to share and kept everything hidden deep inside.

Letting her green eyes briskly read over the few sentences, she identified right away that the message was from Andromeda and although the note appeared to be casual, something just wasn't settling right with it.

Hearing the doors to the elevator whisk open behind her, Kelly fumbled as she exited the program and whirled around to greet the newcomer aboard the deck. Seeing that it was Shepard, she stood straighter and gave the appropriate salute. "No new messages for you, Commander. Operative Lawson did request that Mordin give her an update status report, but I instructed her that he wished to not be disturbed."

"So I've heard…" Shepard stepped forward, but then paused as he studied the Galaxy Map in front of them.

"Commander…" Kelly began as she glanced behind to her terminal as the message to Garrus nagged at her.

"What is it?"

"Shepard! There you are!" Mordin came out from his lab, his eyes wide with eagerness. "I have the results from my research on the Collectors. Have a moment to look?"

"Let's go." Shepard nodded his head as he followed the doctor back into his retreat again.

Defeated, Kelly exhaled and crinkled up her nose. Taking a brave foot forward, she walked into the elevator to go down onto the crew level to have a word with Vakarian.

"Miss Chambers! I don't see you much down here." Mess Sergeant Ruper called to the red head as she hurried through the Mess Hall towards the Forward Battery unit. "Tonight is Earth Night…want to try what I'm cooking up?"

"Another time…I have a council session with Garrus Vakarian." Kelly apologized sloppily as she continued to walk.

Ruper grunted a response as he turned back towards his stove. "Turians are wimps."

Taking a breath, Kelly entered the room and saw Garrus standing over the console with his back to her. His fingers working quickly over the controls and several gratifying beeps responded over and over. As she stood there, she wondered if he was so engrossed in his work that he was not aware to her presence or if he was and simply didn't care. Judging by his psychological profile that she studied from the dossier and the reports on Omega, she concurred that it was the latter of the two. Politely clearing her throat to get his attention, she stepped another inch closer and smiled brightly. "How is our favorite Turian crew member doing?"

"Just lovely, Yeomen Chambers. However I'm in the middle of some calibrations so perhaps you can check in another time?" Garrus answered without turning his back. His voice definitely showed some sarcasm.

Looking down at the floor for a moment to gather her thoughts, Kelly chewed on her lip. "I heard that a lot went on the Citadel…thought you would like to share." She lied.

Garrus' arms dropped in synch by his sides as he lifted his head, staring straight down the ship's main gun. "I don't regret anything I have done and I will live with the consequences." His mandible was clenched tightly.

Studying his composure, Kelly became perplexed over his enigmatic rebuttal. "I understand, Garrus," Her bright green eyes flashed again as she smiled warmly. "There is a message for you."

"It can wait."

"It's from Andromeda."

The Turian paused and the red head noticed that his demeanor tensed. "I said it can wait, Miss Chambers. Thank you. Now if you excuse me…I have more work to be done." He began to fly his talons over the console once more.

Pressing on, Kelly sidestepped to make herself more in his view. She stood silently with the same inviting smile on her face. She noticed that his avian eyes deceived him as they diverted to her direction. "The message was short and I will be happy to relay it to you."

Turning on her, Garrus growled through his razor sharp teeth. "You _read_ my message?"

"I…I…" Kelly froze as she stumbled away from his aggressive manner. She wasn't expecting him to attack her like this.

"Oh, relax, Garrus. Just read the damn message will ya? Quit acting so tough." A female voice teased nearby and then Kasumi's form uncloaked behind them in the door way. Her hidden eyes glowed with delight.

"And _you_ are spying on us?" Garrus whirled on her in frustration as he threw up his arms in defeat. "Perfect."

"Female intuition." Kasumi took the portable data pad from Kelly and propped herself up on the console. "Now should I read it out loud or will you?"

Andromeda furrowed her brow as she stared tiresomely at the terminal in front of her. It had been three days since she sent a message to be relayed off the comm buoy. She was one hundred percent positive that it went through okay. She made a routine of checking her terminal as much as she could during her shifts on the Wards, but negativity was beginning to settle in. Either the message never made it to the Normandy or Garrus read it and didn't bother on replying. She was beginning to wonder if what had transpired on Ilium was simply a farce.

Giving up, she rose from her desk and walked towards her bedroom. Just as she turned the lights off, the terminal gave an indicating beep. Nearly tripping over her feet, Andromeda rushed forward and didn't bother to sit down as she pulled up her inbox. Peculiarly there was a message from Kasumi:

"_Hey, girl. Heard you were back with C-Sec. I'll remember to look out for you. Once this mess is done then you and I will need to take a vacation! Ilium was fun, let's try that again! I cannot wait to see what trouble we get into."_

_ -Kasumi_

Tilting her head in confusion, Andromeda reread the message about five times until she began to wonder if Kasumi was hinting at something. Switching to the extranet she began to do searches on Ilium and Sidonis…surprisingly matches came back!

"_Binary Helix's sales exploded on Nos Astra…Sidonis Lucias was one of their top buying customers_…." The article read…but the words were not making sense. Then again, she barely knew Sidonis. Sliding back to her message from Kasumi, she compared that window to the extranet article until it dawned on her! All she could do was laugh and shake her head. "Kasumi, you very clever woman. You're going to have teach you all your tricks when we meet up again."


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Captain Armando Bailey furrowed his brow at the tablet in front of him. His eyes exhausted from reading Andromeda's findings troublesomely over and over. Setting the tablet down, he cupped his face with his right hand and sighed hard. "Go ahead and close the investigation for now."

Andromeda's jaw nearly dropped to the floor hearing her Captain's order, the opposite reaction that she was expecting. "Sir..?"

"Ilium is in the Traverse…out of our jurisdiction, Lieutenant."

"I was planning on finding out more information on Lantar Sidonis, sir. Not to make any arrests. I know where our boundaries are." Andromeda pressed on. This _had_ to work.

"Sadly…the rest of the galaxy doesn't see it that way. The systems in the Traverse don't like people snooping around in their business…especially the Council. You confront the wrong person and it may spark an intergalactic war."

"I was on Omega for awhile remember? I'll be cautious…besides the suspect may _still_ be on the Citadel. What if this homicide wasn't just on one Turian?"

"What are you saying? That there could be more killings in the next few days?" Bailey's jaw clenched as he looked up at the young female.

"It's always a possibility…that's why I needed to go to Ilium. I may find the evidence I need to at least conclude it was one hit and not a taste of things to come. I don't like the idea of knowing there is some crazy professional sniper lurking around the Wards do you?"

The Captain heaved a sigh again…this time in defeat. It really bothered him at what the Lieutenant was getting at. He always believed that policing some part of the Wards on the Citadel was like patrolling the streets of New York City. If more people were killed it would spark a panic. "Shit…" He tapped the monitor in front of him and began to type in an order. "I really do not like the idea of you going to Ilium on your own, but the less people the better. I'm going to arrange a transport ship that is leaving for Nos Astra at fourteen hundred hours to take you with them. You have two orbital cycles on Nos Astra to get all the information that you can find and then get your ass and your report back here, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." Andromeda saluted appropriately.

"I mean it." Bailey emphasized as he stared hard at her. "Use discretion…don't mention Citadel Security unless you find it necessary. When you return, do not talk to anyone about your trip. I'll log you in as being out on the schedule."

"Thank you, sir." Andromeda relaxed her composure as her thoughts instantly turned to arriving at Ilium and talking to Garrus about what was going on. She turned to head back to her place to get her things.

"Lieutenant?" The older gentleman called after her.

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

The trip to Nos Astra was longer than Andromeda expected …it took about six Earth Days and that was even when hitting the Mass Relay. She really couldn't complain because she couldn't even imagine how long the trip would have been without the advanced Prothean technology. As she saw the glamorous skyline come into view, Andromeda made her way to the back secluded area of the ship to change her clothes. Luckily for her, she kept her Blue Suns armor that she stole off of a merc on Omega. Before she departed the Citadel, she did some research on her destination and learned that the space port was the gateway to the Traverse, meaning a lot of mercs came through on a regular basis: Majority Blue Suns and Eclipse. She hoped with her disguise that it wouldn't ignite a lot of interest to anyone and she could go to wherever she pleased without too much trouble. The difficult part would be in locating Shepard and his crew.

The ship gave a slight jar as she closed her suitcase from the magnetic locking mechanisms that held the ship in place at the platform. Andromeda quietly let majority of the ship's crew deboard first before she followed suit. She really didn't want them to see her new outfit.

The spaceport was filled with the traffic noise of transport cars all around. A LOKI Mech approached her and then stopped about two feet away. "Welcome to Ilium. May I check in your luggage?"

Glancing down at her small compartment bag, Andromeda shrugged and then decided it would be best to not worry about dragging it all around the port unless she had to. "Yes, one bag please."

The mech extended its right arm to accept her item. "How long shall we keep it for you?"

"Two Earth Days."

"Name?"

"Andromeda Kryik."

"Logging the information into our database. Thank you. You may pick up your item at the Luggage Kiosk. Enjoy your stay." The mech turned around and walked off with the bag.

Following it, her blue eyes fell upon a soft blue skinned Asari standing at the entrance of the port. The woman smiled gently at Andromeda as she walked closer. "Welcome to Ilium. My name's Careena. The docking fee was paid by the captain of your vessel. Please enjoy your stay and feel free to ask me any questions about points of interest."

"Well I was looking for someone who may have already arrived here, a Spectre."

"I'm not able to provide any information on persons at the spaceport. However, I can point out some wonderful places to check out while you are here."

Andromeda cursed silently as she looked ahead inside the busy spaceport entranceway. Maybe this trip wasn't going to go as smoothly as she hoped. "What about information on vendors that have affiliations with Lantar Sidonis?" She questioned as she thought back to Kasumi's message.

She could tell the Asari was becoming frustrated with her similar question, but Careena replied just as pleasant, "I apologize. I cannot provide that type of information. You may see if you can book an appointment with Liara T'Soni. She is wonderful when it comes to finding out that type of inquiry."

"Sure…where is she?"

Careena's eyes lit up with enthusiasm, "Liara is located in the administrative office just above the trading floor. She is one of Nos Astra's most respected information brokers."

"Thanks. I'll go see her now."

"Of course…enjoy your stay."

_"Wow…this place is way too friendly…but somehow it feels like it's a front to what really goes on behind closed doors." _ Andromeda pondered, shooting back a glance at the Asari before walking out onto the trading floors. She was somewhat familiar with the trading area and the Eternity Bar from her previous visit with Garrus. Instantly her gaze fell upon the same Volus that she confronted before. He was at his usual position in front of a stock exchange kiosk. His respirator going at a fast rate with his anticipation in increasing his cred amount.

"Twenty-Five! Sell at Twenty-Five!" The Volus shouted at the kiosk. His short round body jumped about an inch off the ground.

Feeling the blood boil in her veins she watched on, Andromeda diverted her attention away to avoid confrontation and made her way on up the stairs to the administrative office. A purple skinned Asari sat at a desk just outside Liara's office. "May I help you?" Her voice was just as charming and soft as Careena's.

"Yes, I'm looking for Liara. May I speak with her?"

"I apologize, but Liara is not in. She had urgent business. May I schedule an appointment for you?" The Asari tapped her monitor. "May we contact you or the local Blue Suns agent for the request?"

Andromeda shifted her body a bit uncomfortably by the question. So maybe her outfit would attract _some_ attention. "It was sort of…personal. Non-Suns request." She informed as she looked at the closed door in front of her. She was beginning to wonder if Liara already met up with Shepard before her onset and they departed the port already. "Can you tell me if a Spectre was here earlier to speak with Liara?"

"A Spectre was here four days ago, however, that is all the information that I can give out."

Feeling her heart sink with despair, Andromeda mumbled a thank you and went back down the stairs before the receptionist could reply. She paused at the bottom of the stairs as she looked out into the trading floor. She had no clue what to do now. There had to be some reason she was directed here by Kasumi, but what if she was too late? What if Shepard departed earlier than Kasumi intended? Without any direct ties to Shepard, she doubted anyone would be willing to provide any information that she really needed.

Exploring the other sections of Nos Astra to find anything that she could on Shepard, a woman in her late thirties with dark hair to her shoulders held up her hand, motioning Andromeda to stop. Andromeda noted that she was wearing some type of colonist medic outfit. The woman looked at her as if she recognized Andromeda but she was definitely not familiar. "Krysta…is that…no it couldn't be…" The stranger leaned her head closer to get a better look, then her hazel colored eyes became wide in a surprise of satisfaction. "Bless the heavenly spirit…it _is_ you!" Quickly moving closer, she hugged Andromeda tightly, crying. "We were all afraid that the Geth got you."

Once the overfriendly woman released her, Andromeda took a comfortable step back and cocked her head to one side trying to recall her past memory. Catching Andromeda's puzzled look , the older woman smiled softly and laughed in slight embarrassment. "I guess you don't remember me. I was one of the colonists on Feros. I didn't have time to formally introduce myself to you on Zhu's Hope before the Geth attacked. "

"I was rescued from Saren later by Shepard…how are you guys doing?" Andromeda replied shortly, but politely. She really hoped she wouldn't have to go into a long story about what transpired after Feros to this new acquaintance.

"We are….doing the best that we can do. A lot of us are still experiencing neurological symptoms from the Thorian's control: Migraines, fatigue, memory loss. Desperate for rapid treatment, we signed a contract with a colonial survey group to do some medical scans…but the medical contract apparently allows the company to perform invasive procedures without our consent. That's why I'm here. They will do the procedures if they deem it valuable…which they have. We should have taken the time to fully read the contract…but the problems were too much..and we could not afford an advisor to examine the document for us."

Frowning, Andromeda glanced over the woman's shoulder to the company's kiosk to see the Asari glaring at her with distaste. "So what are your options now?"

"They cannot do the procedures, however, they will have us mark for breach of contract and we will have to pay back the full price that we would have paid for the scans." The woman sat back down on the bench and hung her head. "Our colony is just now reviving from the Geth attack…we cannot afford to pay… You are lucky, Krysta, from what I heard, you were not under the Thorian's control too long and hopefully have not suffered as much as we have. I do not wish this on anyone else."

Rubbing her neck a bit uneasily, feeling guilty and helpless, Andromeda glanced at the colonist in sadness. She really didn't know what to say or do to help the situation. Looking across the vendors to the cab port, she noticed a cab car pulling up with its occupants departing. The first one appeared to be an Asari, the other a human male with his back turned, but was heavily loaded for combat. The last was…a Turian! Recognizing that the passengers were now Shepard and his crew, Andromeda muttered a quick apology to the sobbing woman as she cut across the floor to greet the new arrivals.

Not wanting to wait on them to come up to her, Andromeda waved her hand to make sure that she had Shepard's attention. "Commander!" She called.

The three were walking to her, all of their expressions different: The Asari's eyes were warm, but yet skeptical at the same time, Shepard's were cold and filled with frustration, and Garrus' were a mixture of pain and shock. Stopping just inches from her, Shepard kept his jaw clenched tightly as he looked her over. "Just what the hell are you doing now? You sure have a fetish of following me around it seems, Andromeda."

"I'm sorry, Commander…but I…" Andromeda babbled as the Commander's strict demeanor broke down all her strength.

"I hope this one has noble goals in teaming up with the Suns." The Asari remarked as her eyes remained fixed as if she was searching deep within Andromeda's soul.

"She's _not_ with the Suns…" Shepard mumbled, looking around as if he was almost embarrassed by her presence. "Excuse us." He then stepped around her to continue his course.

"It is important that I do speak with you, sir…" Andromeda followed keeping on the Commander's heels as her voice remained soft yet stern.

"I'm not here for idle chatter. I'm planning on meeting up with my next dossier. Garrus, what was the location again?"

The Turian in the back tapped a few buttons on his omni-tool. "Contact should be at the shipping dock."

Gathering more courage, Andromeda increased her step and nearly cut the human male off, stopping him. "I'm on official C-Sec business and I need to speak with Garrus about an incident that happened on the Citadel."

"Hate to break it to you, but you are far from Council Space and they have no jurisdiction in this sector so get that right."

"I am pretty familiar with my boundaries, Commander." Andromeda spat back, becoming quite frustrated about the Spectre's negative attitude towards her.

Opening his mouth to relinquish a rebuttal, Shepard was stopped when Garrus stepped out to place himself in between the disputing humans. "Commander, I will handle this."

"Miranda?" Shepard tapped into his comm.

"_Go ahead, Shepard."_

"I need you to help out with the next dossier. Garrus has…business elsewhere. Meet us at the shipping dock in fifteen minutes. "

There was a pause on the other end as if Miranda was trying to figure out what was going on. "_Understood, sir."_

Turning back to his Turian comrade, Shepard tilted his head towards the direction of Eternity. "_Handle_ this."

Remaining quiet till the others left, Andromeda kept her gaze down on the floor until the footsteps disappeared. Satisfied that the two now were alone, she slowly raised her head back up to her friend whose avian eyes were already on her. "It's about Sidonis…" She started.

"Wait…" Garrus looked around to make sure that no one was lurking nearby and then motioned her to follow him. "Let's get a table at Eternity…I need a drink."


	22. Chapter 22

Andromeda kept her distance as she followed her Turian friend up the staircase that led into Eternity. The same seductive rhythms filled the air as the patrons lounged about on the comfortable sofas and tables. The atmosphere was much different than she was familiar with on Omega. She cracked a smile seeing a maiden Asari performing an erotic table dance while a young human male, Salarian and Turian watched. Well…almost different.

Garrus Vakarian made a beeline to the Asari bartender whose attention was captured by a photo in front of her. Andromeda couldn't make out who the photo was of, but she assumed it had to be some sort of relative or significant other given the Asari's shielded yet sadden expression. She glanced up and quickly slid the photo back underneath the counter as she noticed the Turian approaching her. A warm playful smile spread across her lips. "What can I get you, good looking?"

"Just make it strong." Garrus grunted as he kept his face down. Clearly Andromeda recognized that the inevitable difficult conversation was going to be nearly impossible given how her number one suspect of Sidonis' murder was already acting. The only question was if he would be willing to confess to the murder and what action she would have to take.

"You got it. " The Asari turned to the side to take a glass off the counter behind her, her eyes never leaving Andromeda. "What about you, babe?"

Pausing, debating if she wanted to one up Garrus or not, she decided against it and knew just the opposite would probably piss him off even more. "_Not _strong." She grinned just wide enough to catch Garrus' attention, but kept her eyes off of him. Two could play at the game and she hoped it may in turn loosen him just enough…

Within seconds two separate drinks were poured and the two walked over to a secluded round table in the back. "I thought those three were here the last time we came to this place for a bachelor's party," Andromeda whispered as she glanced over to the dancing Asari.

"They were." Garrus muttered as he kept both hands around his glass, his dark avian eyes stared down at the reddish transparent liquid. "Kind of makes you miss Chora's Den doesn't it?" His last question seemed to just stumble out...but the way he said it seemed almost quizzical.

Studying him, Andromeda chose her next words carefully, "Or Omega." Another slight grunt came as a rebuttal as Garrus shifted his body some in his seat.

Finally he picked up his glass and downed a few sips of the potent beverage. He showed no reaction to the instant alcohol effects. "You said you were on an assignment from the Citadel."

Instantly noticing that he left out that she mentioned Sidonis, the brown haired young woman replied, "A possible _homicide._"

"Really?" Garrus lounged back against the table's comfortable soft leathery chair. He tilted his head to the left to relieve any stiffness…and then to the right. "You don't get a lot of those on the Citadel….sometimes in the Lower Wards."

His demeanor changed drastically from within minutes ago… "_A potential cover?" _She wondered_. _Afraid of having her time being cut short by Shepard, she decided to go ahead and call his bluff. "Lantar Sidonis was murdered just outside the Neon Markets." Her eyes straight on him waiting for his gaze to meet hers; she had to know…it had to be now. Her mouth started to dry up from the extreme anticipation so she casually picked up her drink and took a few slow sips.

Taking in her words, Garrus remained quiet as he leaned back more against his chair giving his body more space from the table as he horizontally crossed his right leg over his left. "At last that bastard got what he deserved."

Horrified by just now realizing how cold Garrus had become since his arrival on Omega, Andromeda protested softly, "He was your friend…" She remembered how Sidonis approached her at Afterlife and identified himself as a friend of Garrus.'

"You mean traitor." Garrus snapped back quickly as his eyes caught with her. There was fire still burning in them just like when he was fighting the mercs…

Angry, she reached into her breast pocket to retrieve the photos that she delicately carried along with her on her journey to the Terminus Systems' gateway. "These were taken at the scene. He was pronounced upon arrival. The bullet lodged into his brain killing him instantly. All witnesses were questioned…no one saw a thing….even out in the open."

Picking up the photos as if to study them, Garrus' mandible clenched tightly, he looked away as if to suppress whatever he was feeling inside. Remorse? Satisfaction? Sadness? Turian expressions were always difficult to read and Vakarian at the present moment was the worse of them all. Pushing the photos back to her side he stood up from the table. "Looks professional…probably a sniper, Lieutenant. You definitely have your hands full on this one."

Standing up to meet him, the C-Sec officer pressed on, "I know you were involved, Garrus." Fear and anxiety filled her as the casual conversation ended and the confrontation began. She subconsciously reached over to place a hand on her legal sidearm by routine.

Noticing her movement, the Turian tensed. "You plan on making an arrest, Officer?" He hissed lowly as the title dripped from his lips in defiance.

Pain overcame Andromeda and her hand trembled lightly along the butt of the gun. "I just want to know, Garrus…." She trembled as a pit formed in the bottom of her stomach. Luckily, their voices and actions were muted enough to where it didn't attract the attention of the fellow patrons.

Garrus remained frozen as he glared off in a distance giving Andromeda the hope that he would tell her what really happened at the Neon Markets. Instead he reached down to pick up his glass and finished off the remaining drink. "I need to help Shepard in stopping the Collectors, Lieutenant Kryek. _Excuse me._" He pushed around her and hurried his steps out of the bar.

It took several seconds for Andromeda to realize what just happened. He choked. "Hey!" She called and took off after him. Uncaring if she attracted anyone's attention, she chased him onto the trading floor. One of the Asari vendors looked up from her kiosk as the Blue Suns uniformed female maneuvered through the crowd of customers to catch up with the Turian. "Vakarian!" She shouted. Surprisingly Garrus stopped in midstride, his fists bawled up tightly at his sides. "I want to know what the hell happened to you!" Rage consumed her and she was unable to maintain the level of her voice, she stopped a few steps behind him. The Turian said nothing…his body remained in perfect form as he stood there. "You talk about injustice…all the good you do….and then….you do this?" She pressed on with each word, taking another step….then another… till she was directly behind him. Although she was seeing completely seeing red, she managed to control her words to keep his identity as Archangel still under wraps.

Several murmurs came from passing patrons as they watched the two, the Turian remained still. He uncurled and curled his fingers back and forth as his body shook. He still would not turn around….still not to confront her…"I will live with the consequences, Andromeda!" His voice strained in front of her.

Sickened by his response, her mind instantly flashed to the image of Garrus lining up the shot to the back of Sidonis' head…and firing. "Coward! You are no better than _they _were!" She emphasized they to the three merc groups that were on Omega. "He was a more honorable Turian than you'll ever be!"

She almost regretted saying the last line of cold words but didn't get a chance to say anything additionally as Garrus whirled around and with one swift move; his right hand gripped her neck tightly like a vice. A growl came up from within his throat, one that she never heard before from him or any kind of species. It was more terrifying than a Krogan's battle cry. His hand squeezed her wind pipe, denying her any air. Desperately, she gripped his arm with one hand as her free hand held onto his shoulder in disbelief.

Ilium's lights made Garrus' eyes almost seemed like they were gold in color as he glared at her quietly. He looked upon her as if she was an unknown threat…whatever feelings he had for her appeared to be absolute. At first, she was calm assuming that he wouldn't dare to kill her in an open area, but as his grip remained true, panic overcame her and her body writhed against the restraint. Breaking free was useless and all she could do was to look at him in shock and pray for mercy.

"Keelah!" A familiar mechanize voice called through the crowd. Tali rushed up to Garrus and pulled at his arm desperately. "Garrus, what is wrong with you? Let Andromeda go now!"

Giving one more snarl, the Turian complied. Relaxing a little, the he slowly retracted his hand, staring at his antagonist as if he was looking right through her. With the danger somewhat gone, Andromeda took a few steps back to put more distance between them. Tali gently placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Are you okay? Take a few slow breaths…"

"I'm fine, Tali…" Andromeda panted as she shook her head. She couldn't believe what just transpired. She glanced over to see Garrus now looking at her, his head cocked to one side trying to fathom the reality of the situation; his mouth partially opened but no words came out.

The crowd began to separate as Commander Shepard roughly pushed through. His jaw set, he moved directly to his squad mate, nearly throwing the Turian's back into the wall. His arm stretched across the Turian's neck to keep him place but with Garrus' military background, he wouldn't dare fight a Commanding officer. They both knew that. "Are you stupid?" Shepard yelled.

"I'm sorry, Commander…" Garrus apologized, his voice shaking.

"We need to have a clear head going into battle and I thought the _Citadel _took care of that. I have half a mind to just leave you here."

Seeing Garrus scrutinized was almost more painful to watch than seeing him change. "Commander"! Andromeda called out as she took a few strides over. "His actions were warranted. " She hung her head. "I had no right to question him like I did here."

Shepard's burly Krogan squad mate grunted as he monitored the crowd that still hovered around the few. "Nothing to see…get lost." He growled as he made a few aggressive moves to show that he meant business. The crowd knew when to cross a Krogan…and that was only a selective five percent of the time.

Removing his arm, Shepard turned around to face her. "I was there and _he_ did what was necessary. I suggest you go back to Citadel Space…Officer."

"I will notate my file." Andromeda gave a polite head gesture before she turned to walk towards the dock, somewhat embarrassed to how the event took place out in the open. She was hoping for a more secluded altercation.

"Just make sure to leave him out of it. Remember that Spectres are above the law." The Commander called out.

Before Andromeda gained enough space, she glanced back to overhear John Shepard telling his comrades that they needed to go with him to Liara's apartment. She knew that she would have to return to the Citadel to live a normal life until the imminent Reaper threat once again brought Shepard and his team back to her.

The ship back to the Citadel was somewhat more cramp than her arrival flight. It was a rugged Salarian merchant freighter that barely had enough room for its normal ten man crew more or less her. The noise of the engines was loud through the thin metal walls but the vessels on Omega were much worse. At least the smell was more pleasant than the Batarian slave ship she was on when she was captured by the Suns.

She couldn't say too much about the _overfriendly _crew and that was an exaggeration. A few of them peered around the corner to the hallway she was sitting in every couple of hours. Their fish like eyelids would blink as they chattered amongst one another before disappearing once again. It was times like this that Andromeda wished she brought along her translator or learned their language better.

Overall it wasn't a bad flight back home. The Salarians kept to themselves and she felt somewhat safe. The Salarian species were a very squeamish species who didn't like aggression unlike the Krogan or Batarian. She had to be careful to watch her belongings but at least they wouldn't do her any physical harm. Her portable terminal beeped indicating that a comm buoy was in range for her to send a message. Opening up her Inbox to the pre-typed message to Captain Bailey, she pressed the "send" button and sighed with relief to see that the message went through successfully. The message was encrypted and was short and to the point, "Bailey, Ilium turned up no leads. I'm heading back to HQ."


	23. Chapter 23

Weaving in and out from the busy commuting crowd, Andromeda quickened her pace as she approached the staircase that led to the upper level of the Wards. Taking two steps at a time, she made fast work and nearly sprinted towards C-Sec. How she missed the elevators! When Saren and the Geth attacked the Citadel, there were multiple incidents where people were trapped in elevators and became easy prey. Since then, elevators were taken out and staircases were placed in. She wasn't late…she wasn't even supposed to be on duty, but this was important. Four hours of sleep since the arrival on the Citadel was all she could enforce, but anyone who looked at her wouldn't have noticed. Her uniform was firmly pressed, her hair had no patches that were sticking up and her makeup was perfect as always. Being disciplined on one's appearance was one requirement of C-Sec that Andromeda picked up fast.

Captain Bailey, however, didn't look too good. His effort was pretty obvious to hide his current state, but the bags under his eyes betrayed him. A cup of dark black coffee was sitting on his desk and half of it was missing. He was bit surprised seeing the young female Lieutenant racing to C-Sec ; he already read her message that came to his personal terminal so he was pretty much up to date as to what happened on Ilium. "Lieutenant." He nodded curtly.

"Sir." Andromeda snapped to attention in front of his desk.

Lifting his eyebrow, Bailey glanced at the terminal that the time was o-four hundred hours Earth time: two hours before her regular assigned shift normally. "You're early….even for your day off. Eager to get back?" His question wasn't stern at all; hell she was probably one of his best officers on the force: human wise. Her investigative skills and discipline was almost Turian. Her profile even reflected that with her past history: Brought up by Nihlus, a former Spectre and an acquaintance of Garrus Vakarian, an ex-Citadel Security officer. "I read your report, Officer. Damn shame you couldn't uncover anything." Shaking his head, he scooted a few inches from his desk in a more laxed position.

"It was my apologies, sir. I should have crossed that information on the extranet with our archived sources. The data that linked him to Ilium was manufactured by an unknown being."

"You did a lot…hell more than some of the officers would have volunteered for. A lot of them are too spoiled by their cushy positions on the Citadel that they lose what it really takes to solve a crime." Shaking his head, he added in a mutter, "Not like it used to be." Standing up, the older gentleman motioned Andromeda to follow him over to the Interrogation room of the headquarters. "We did get lucky in your absence though…" He nodded his head to the door's viewing window.

Inside the plain walled room was Harkin himself. One of his legs was bandaged and he had a few old facial wounds with a small faint contusion to the lower right eye. A Turian C-Sec officer stood on guard inside the room with a blank expression as Harkin brooded in his chair. Seeing him instantly made the blood inside Andromeda's veins come to a boil. "Picked him up about a week after you left. Shepard gave us clues that the forger known as Fade was actually Harkin himself." Bailey continued as he also looked inside the room. "Not sure what his story was. There was a gunshot wound to his right thigh and his face was pretty bloody. Probably pissed off someone…" The Captain cupped his face from exhaustion. "All I know is that he still won't talk. Bad for him, the charges are building up fast."

"How did Shepard find out?" Andromeda turned her attention away from the injured bald man.

"Don't know….he and some of his alien squad mates came in awhile back asking how to find Fade. I led them down to a contact in the warehouse. A few days later the transmission comes in about Harkin having the alias as Fade. With the investigation about the homicide, I didn't give it another thought. I'm just glad that we have him. An outsider with C-Sec intel is never a good thing. "

"Captain?" Andromeda watched as he made his way back to the desk. "May I speak with him?"

"Sure…but he won't talk. Claims he has some kind of information to bargain with…but won't mention what it is referring to. Bargaining with useless information is a bad tactic. "

"Harkin won't talk as long as he knows that everything he says is being recorded. Is there a place not tapped?" Andromeda's heart was crawling up into her throat from anxiety. Given Garrus' past with Harkin, she instantly concluded that the incident with Sidonis fell back to their meeting with Fade. Harkin wouldn't give it a second thought to bring Garrus down with him.

"The holding cell is not monitored but I don't think it's a good idea to go into that room alone with him, Lieutenant. Don't worry…tomorrow I'm shipping him down to the lower sector with the rest of the trash. "

"Then this may be your last chance, sir." Andromeda persisted. "Let me try. "

Bailey stared at her hard for a few seconds, appearing like he was debating silently on her request. Sighing he waved her along with his hand. "You have five minutes, and then I want you out of there. Use force if you need to…" He lowly said the last part. He walked over and punched in the code for the door to the interrogation room to slide open. The officer at his post whirled around to give his superior a salute.

Instantly Harkin's cold dark eyes fell upon Andromeda beside the captain. He actually cracked a smile. "Well look who it is…."

"Take him into the holding block." Bailey addressed the officer, ignoring Harkin.

"What now?" Harkin grumbled as he limped beside the officer to his new destination, he threw out, "You run this place worse than those damn Turians."

The Turian officer was unable to control his feelings from the remark and he shoved Harkin through the door with the side of his shotgun. "Inside."

Harkin lost his balance on his good leg and struck his head on the side wall as he fell to the ground. Snapping his head back to the side, he growled back, "Just wait till I get my attorney!"

"Harkin, don't be a baby." Andromeda stepped inside the room. She was almost exhausted from dealing with him and she didn't even begin yet!

"Easy." Bailey placed his hand on the young Turian officer. "Five minutes, Kryek. " The door came to a close.

Andromeda remained quiet at first as she stared down upon the bald man. Her fists were clenched tightly from the pure hatred she had for him. "How was Omega?" He spat coldly.

"Shut up." Andromeda walked past and leaned up against the wall across from him in a casual position. "Heard someone gave you a pounding." She pointed out his injured leg and face.

"Yeah? Who told you that?" Harkin grunted as he shifted his body weight into a more dignifying sitting position.

"You want to bargain? Well I'm listening."

"I don't think you really want to hear it, Lieutenant." Harkin grinned sadistically. "It involves your _boyfriend_ after all."

"I'm not here for games, Harkin. You have less than five minutes to tell me or they'll ship your ass down to the lower Wards. I wouldn't feel bad by even putting in a request to ship you to the Batarian slavers myself."

"Heard Sidonis was killed near the Neon Markets. " Harkin leaned his head back against the wall. "Wonder who would have done that…." He stared up at the ceiling as he spoke, not really talking to anyone at all.

"If you are suggesting that Garrus would have murdered Sidonis in cold blood then you're wrong." Andromeda defended what she was desperately trying to make herself not believe. Despite all the clear facts… the conclusion _had_ to be wrong. It just had to be.

"Who says I was _suggesting_ anything?" The bald ex-officer moved his head back down to where he was looking directly at her.

"Quit playing around."

"I'm not saying another word until I'm guaranteed a lighter sentence." Harkin retorted.

"Then I'll be sure that they will lock you up for a long time…and to add kidnapping to your charges. Kidnapping a C-Sec officer is a serious offense…" Andromeda shrugged her shoulders as she walked towards the room's entrance.

"Wait!" Harkin's voice strained, not even waiting one second. He threw his head back against the wall in aggravation, cursing under his breath as he managed to prop himself up on his one good leg. She guessed that implication of him being locked up for good was something that he wasn't going to let happen to him.

"I'm listening. If you screw around anymore then this conversation is over…" Andromeda turned back around to face him. Harkin paused at first, glancing around at the different corners of the room as if he wasn't sure if the room was bugged or not. "_It's not_." She reassured him.

"Sidonis came to me a few months ago…said he wanted to disappear…something to do with Garrus and Omega. I took his creds and got him off the grid. Somehow that damned hothead along with Shepard traced his vanishing to me. I setup a meeting between them and Sidonis. Omega really changed Garrus…" Harkin limped a little to get the pressure off his good leg.

"You deserved everything that he did to you…" Andromeda glared through clenched teeth.

"Screw you…" The man hobbled towards her. "So you happy now? Is it good to hear that your righteous Turian killed someone in cold blood?" He was a few inches in front of her now, his foul breath hitting her face as he smirked.

Pulling back her right arm, she punched him hard in the stomach instantly knocking him to the floor. With his lungs on fire, Harkin barely had enough time to catch his breath when Andromeda placed her left boot against the wounded leg. The weight of her foot pushing directly down onto the bullet's impact location. Finally with breath, Harkin let out a piercing cry of pain as he thrashed his body backwards. "You bitch!" He spat through gritted teeth to try to suppress his scream.

"What was that?" Andromeda teased as she stomped on the leg once more even harder. The pain was so immense that it almost caused Harkin to black out. He screamed even louder this time alarming the guard standing outside.

The officer's protrusion alerted Bailey from his desk and he rushed inside. Andromeda removed her foot and took a few steps away. "You can take him now."

"This isn't over…" Harkin hissed as he protectively held his injured leg with his left hand.

"Did he talk?" Bailey asked as he nor did the Turian officer really object to her attacking the criminal.

"Nothing more than we already knew." Andromeda stared down as the guard began to help Harkin up from the floor to escort him. "Unless of course he wishes to say something now?"

The Turian officer paused with Harkin in tow before her and the Captain. Harkin opened his mouth a little to remark, but then looked away, his jaw tightened. "I want to talk to my attorney."

Just as Andromeda figured, even though he told her everything she wanted to know, he knew that the information was still valuable to place out now. However, she feared that once the trial proceedings began, he would not hesitate to relay the information in a plea bargain. She just hoped there would be a way to derail that plan when the time came. "Sir, add kidnapping of a C-Sec officer to the list of charges." This time she grinned at Harkin.

"Understood." Bailey nodded his head.

Once the prisoner was removed, Bailey walked back over to his desk and picked up a data pad. "I have to commend you on your interrogation methods, Lieutenant. A lot of officers don't want to do what is necessary due to regulations."

"It was a pleasure, sir." Andromeda saluted proudly. "I owed Harkin that much."

"Just keep this between you and me. I don't need an internal investigation of how I run my district." Setting the data pad down, he logged back onto his terminal and punched in a few keys. "I'll log you back into tomorrow's evening schedule since you returned."

"I'm fit for duty now, sir, if you need me."

"You're an outstanding officer, Kryek, but the Wards can live another day without you." Bailey smiled proudly. "If something pops up, I'll contact you. Just go out and enjoy your evening."

"Thanks…" Andromeda gave him the best smile that she could given the circumstance. She should be grateful that she was off of work and having the envy of the other on-duty officers, but after all she had been through with Shepard and his crew, life at the Citadel seemed rather dull. Ilium was a tragedy and she forced herself to remain angry for Garrus attacking her like he did, but deep down inside she knew that she still cared and worried about him. "Damn Turian…" She laughed a little to herself as she made her back down to her apartment.

"Andromeda! I was looking for you!" Jenna called out when Andromeda just made it back to her apartment door.

"_Just another minute and I would have been in_…" Andromeda smiled to herself as she stopped at her door to talk to her friend. It was only when she turned to see that Jenna was accompanied by her Turian companion. The young woman's arm draped over his own as the two walked.

"You free tonight?" Jenna didn't even give her friend time to reply as she continued, "Baden wants us to hit up a few drinks with him at Dark Star."

"_Again?" _ Andromeda silently answered. "Well…I just got back from an assignment, Jen…I'm sort of tired…" She lied.

"Great time to go." Baden countered coyly. "A few shots and off to bed you go. You'll sleep very good."

"There is another thing that can make you sleep even better…" Jenna cooed to her lover as she danced her fingertips up his arm.

"_I didn't need to have that image in my mind." _ Andromeda grumbled. Deep down inside, she really wanted to say no without caring even if it would upset her friend, but she knew how persistent and stubborn the young red head was. "Alright…only a few…."

"Ladies." Baden smiled holding up his free arm for Andromeda to accept it.

"_What am I getting myself into?"_ She asked herself as took his arm and the three went down the corridor.

Later on that night, Andromeda felt a little tipsy as she entered her apartment. "Lights…sixty percent." She called into the darkness at the room's computer control system. The lights came on, but a dim pace to not hurt her eyes.

Barely slipping off her shoes, she collapsed onto her soft bed with a sigh of relief. It never felt so inviting to her. Her body ached from the lack of rest she had on her travels and her mind swirled from the alcohol. Baden talked into her at least four shots…and she regretted even the first one. She should have known better than to trust a Turian…even a bartender. "Lights off." She mumbled out sleepily.

Hours later, still early morning for her, she heard the rapid constant knock at her apartment door. Getting up, she was appreciative that the most of the alcohol slept off to where she was able to maneuver through her apartment without running into anything in the dark. She really hoped that it wasn't Jenna and Baden trashed. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep before her shift came up.

Knock…Knock…Knock…Knock! The person on the other side hit the door once again. There was no sound at all outside so Andromeda became a bit alarmed. "Who is it?" She called out softly in the dark, as she tempted herself to go back into her room to get her sidearm.

The visitor became silent and the knocks stopped. Then a voice came through "Garrus…"

Hearing the name instinctively made her open the door to greet him. The grayish Turian was standing before her in a somewhat casual outfit, his eye visor discarded. She almost didn't recognize him if it wasn't for his trademark blue tattoo marking on his face. "Wh-what are you doing here?" She whispered, wondering if this occurrence was actually transpiring or if it was a cruel dream conjured up by the alcohol.

Garrus scanned the corridor he was in with his hawk like eyes to make sure no one was spying on them. "May I come in?"

The voice in Andromeda's head warned her, "_Don't do it…remember Ilium? He may attack you again…" _

_ "_Alright," She stepped back to allow him passage, ignoring her clear judgment. His appearance still caught her off guard.

Just like when he first interrogated her, Garrus slipped through the rooms checking them out before he commanded the computer control, "Lights on."

"Lights fifty percent," Andromeda overrode his request as her blue eyes looked at him in the dimness.

Confused, the Turian tilted his head trying to study her reaction. "I-I came to check on you."

His reply seemed to stir up her feelings on Ilium. "_Check _or attack?"

"I apologize for how I acted….but I don't have much time." He began to scan the room once more: Looking behind her paintings, the mirror, wall corners and double checking the corridor outside.

His actions were very strange…which somewhat distressed her. "What is going on, Garrus?"

"You're not safe." Garrus answered as he whirled around to face her, before he walked past her once again to enter her bedroom.

Stunned, she stood still trying to decode his answer. "Not safe? What do you mean?" She followed him. Garrus was at her terminal, typing away when she entered the bedroom. He didn't seem to bother to answer her question or address her presence. "Garrus!" She whispered out a bit louder trying to catch his attention.

Satisfied with whatever concern he had for her terminal, he stood up and began to search her bedroom the same way he searched her living room. Realizing at what he was doing, she asked, "Am I being watched?"

"It's clean…" He slowed down his pace and gave the terminal one more cautious look. "Think carefully now…have you told anyone about what happened on Omega?"

"No…of course not." Andromeda replied after taking a few moments to review her past conversations with Jenna. After all, she was the only person she really had any casual direct contact with.

"This is important, Andromeda!" Garrus turned to face her, grabbing her wrist, jerking her to complete attention. His grip was painful but his state was a complete panic. Fear definitely filled every ounce of his body.

"Garrus…y-you're scaring me…what is going on?" Her voice rose, the fear consuming her as well.

"The Shadow Broker knew I was Archangel. He had a whole damn file on me! "He jerked away from her as he walked back into the living room. Silently he stood at her couch brooding till he unleashed a growl and slammed his fist down hard on the back of the couch. "Fuck!"

Rushing over to him, she placed her hand on his arm to try to calm him. His face was filled with more pain than it was on Omega. "Had? That means it was destroyed right?"

Garrus' eyes darkened as he did not acknowledge her touch. "The Shadow Broker was slain and the file was purged. However, before his death he boasted that he knew my alias and claimed that there was still a bounty on my head. Liara could not confirm if we managed to purge the file before it was sent out to his contacts with the merc groups or bounty hunters.

"So?" Andromeda's voice perked up with a smile. "You took the mercs down before…Shepard and the others will help you."

The Turian's reply was soft but was said without hesitation, "I do not fear death, Andromeda. Turians never do. It is not my death that I'm concerned with….your name was also mentioned in the file as a connection to me."


	24. Chapter 24

Andromeda stood silently in the dark. She wasn't too sure on what her reply should be to her Turian companion. The name "Archangel" suddenly made it feel like they were no longer in the comfortable surroundings of her apartment and were back to the interior slums of Omega's "finest" warehouses and compounds. Cracking a forced smile, she playfully punched Garrus' arm. "Why are you worried? You took care of those guys remember?"

Apparently, Garrus was in no mood to be joking around. Grabbing her hand, his head turned sharply at her. "This is serious, Andromeda! The mercs' reach extend well beyond Omega." Pushing her hand away from his grasp, he took a few steps to the right to gain more distance. "Damnit…why did you have to go find me?"

Andromeda's first reaction to Garrus' remark was to lash out in anger over the fact that she risked her life to find him and make sure he was ok. However, she knew by the tone of his voice that it wasn't an indication that he was speaking out in rage…on the contrary, another emotion plagued him. One that troubled him greatly….one that he never had to face before. Delicately she slipped her hand around his arm and softly nuzzled her head against the soft clothing that covered the boney exoskeleton of his upper arm. "The same could be said about you…." She replied softly. "After all, you came to Omega to find me…until you let the mercs get the best of you."

Garrus was rather stunned…not by her response, but how her gentle touch seemed to relax him. She was right…he contacted Sidonis and with his help, tracked down others to go up against the mercs that controlled Omega. Taking on the Archangel persona, he was determined to not only extract Andromeda from one of the roughest places in the Terminus, but let the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack know that their days of exploiting the weak was over. Sadly, his attacks only put a dent in their operations and Sidonis' betrayal led to the gruesome deaths of his entire squadron.

Looking down as the room's artificial lightening made her face and hair glow softly like an angelic being, Garrus found himself to be captivated by her sheer beauty. No matter where Shepard took him across the galaxy, he found himself back at her side over and over: Feros, Virmire, Citadel, Omega, Ilium and now back at her apartment in the Wards, where he originally took her for questioning. At that time, Andromeda was younger and frightened about all the events that engulfed her. Vakarian found her to be stubborn, and annoying: a usual description about a human from a Turian's perspective. But now by reflecting back on that, he learned that she was merely keeping a promise to Nihlus Kryek, a former Spectre and a fellow Turian. She could have easily handed the evidence over to Saren himself, but she refused and placed herself in more danger. Now Garrus had great respect for the female human….and perhaps something more.

Moving his opposite arm across, he slid one talon slowly down her hair. His touch sent shivers down her spine and goose bumps crawled up her back. "I can't let anything happen to you…" He spoke softly into the darkness.

Shifting her body some, Andromeda pressed her face tightly into his chest as she heard his words. She wrapped her arms up behind his back, pulling him into a strong embrace. "Nothing will, Garrus, I promise." Her response was assertive and unwavering. Deep down inside, she really want to add that she didn't want anything to happen to him. She couldn't even count the number of times to where she would wake up in the middle of the night from fear of Garrus being killed by Saren or some unknown attacker lurking in the shadows. His missions with Commander Shepard were brutal to her. She hesitated on admitting to the same fear…right now she knew she had to remain positive for him, weakness could not be shown.

Taking his arms and positioning to where she was directly in front and facing him, his blue avian eyes looked down upon her. "I…I've just seen so many things go wrong, Andromeda: My work with C-Sec, what happened with Sidonis. " Shaking his head to get the negative thoughts out of his mind, he continued, "I just want something to go right…just once…" His voice trailed as it seemed like he was fighting an internal antagonist. " Just-"

Torn, seeing him fight whatever ailed him alone, Andromeda gingerly placed her hand up, caressing the spot on his face that was blown off by Tarak's Gunship. The cybernetics helped kept the tissues and the skin together, but the scar was visible and probably permanent for the rest of his life, just like the death of his men. The scar to him was not the reminder of what they died for, but how he failed on Omega: A burden that was like a great Thresher Maw consuming his soul. Her touch stopped him from continuing his sentence and she could almost feel his entire body tremble beneath her skin.

The two remained silent as if they were speaking telepathically as Andromeda slowly lowered her arm. Garrus rested his forehead against her own as a great rapture of tranquility engulfed him. He never had a fetish for humans or even imagined what it was like to be emotionally or physically involved with a female of the alien species, but for that very second, all the technicalities didn't matter. Lifting his right hand up, he softly stroked the softness of her facial skin and brushed his tiny lips across her own. The kiss was quick but it was more of a trial, both of them were nearly saying in the back of their minds, "See that wasn't so bad?"

Andromeda leaned up and pressed her lips once again on his mouth but this time had let them linger. Her hands rested on his upper arms for support as she kept her place. She too wasn't quite sure on how intimacy was supposed to be done the "right way" between a human and a Turian. Becoming self-aware of just how long her mouth was on his, she embarrassingly withdrew and felt herself blushing. She just hoped the room was too dimmed for Garrus to notice.

The Turian re-engaged the act and softly rubbed the side of her face against his own as this time, he tilted his head to the side and captured her mouth once again, but at an angle. Andromeda opened her lips a bit wider to taste him and the kiss became deeper. Finding the right spot, Garrus cradled her to him till after several seconds, the two parted for breath. Panting, Andromeda pressed closer, doing the same motion he did and the kisses became more passionate. Overwhelmed, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his hips as he lifted her against the wall.

Breaking away, a small primal churr arose from the Turian's throat as he softly ran his tongue down the length of her neck to her shoulder; a trail of saliva marking his route. His left hand maneuvered over as he softly grasped her breast from within her nightgown. This made a satisfying moan escape Andromeda's mouth which coaxed him on. Letting the Turian side get the best of him, Garrus' instincts urged him to become rougher as his razor sharp teeth nipped at her skin, causing her to gasp out in surprise as the incisors broke the skin.

From the pain, Andromeda's automatic reaction was to jerk away from the instigator. Noticing this, Garrus apologetically began to softly kiss the area. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" He repeated, now he became embarrassed and frightened on how to proceed.

Realizing that he did not bite her in some sadistic pleasure but from the natural urges of his own kind, Andromeda silently forgave him by softly tracing her fingertips up along the under ridge of his fringe. Taking his hand into hers, she led him to the bedroom.

Panting from the afterglow of their session, Andromeda's naked form crawled up towards her lover's mouth and kissed him once again as his hand caressed the supple curves of her body. Despite not having any experiences or "training" on how to be intimate with one another's species, the two eventually decided in their moment of passion to simply let nature take its course.

Garrus quickly discovered that sex with a Turian was completely opposite than with a Human. Being along a military background to where everything was a challenge, sex between Turians did not sway from the same course. Females and males would often begin foreplay with combat which led to positions to pin one's opponent that would eventually spark the act to occur. However, what he just experienced with Andromeda was not some erotic battle, but more intimate…instead of defeating your mate, it was instead to help bring pleasure to him or her.

Andromeda, on the other hand, knew if they were to continue their close relationship that she would have to be accustomed to the way Turians acted during mating. Long scratches lined her back to where the Turian's sharp talons dug into her flesh from the heated climax and the cool air coming from the bedroom's cooling system burned the wounds. The blood from the abrasions had already dried and realizing that her partner may see the injuries to her, she slid off his body and snuggled up beside him.

Glancing down at her soft sweaty body as she began to doze off from the night's activity, Garrus took another breath and stared up at the ceiling as his talons gently stroked her hair to help her rest. Finally after several moments, his thoughts graciously allowed him to sleep.

Hours later, Garrus' communicator chimed from an incoming urgent message. Gingerly slipping out of the bed, but making sure he didn't wake Andromeda, Garrus reached across to the night table to pick up his receiver. "Garrus, here."

"_We just received word from the Illusive Man that there is a derelict Reaper that a Cerberus scientist team was investigating. He is adamant that it contains the IFF Reaper file that we'll need to access the Omega 4 Relay_. " Shepard's voice cracked over the ear piece.

"I'm here when you need me, Commander." Garrus said in his usual militaristic tone. Overhearing the conversation, Andromeda opened her eyes as she laid in the bed, listening to what was being said silently. The Turian's back was to her and he was not aware that she was awake.

_"It's about damn time we take the fight to the Collectors. I need you back on the Normandy immediately. I'm not going to wait around while they attack another colony_."

"Understood. On my way." Garrus quickly set the communicator down and sighed hard as his hand rested on the table. Normally he would be gun-ho about going into battle along Shepard and his team, but this time, something was holding him back. Noticing his uncertainty, Andromeda lifted herself up some, covering her naked form with the bed's purple satin sheets. Hearing her stir behind him, Garrus looked back with a smile on his face. "And I thought life in the Turian military was strict."

"You better go on…" Andromeda grinned. "You know how Shepard gets when he's pissed off."

"Tell me about it." Garrus chuckled as he reached down to the floor to pick up his garments. Pausing, he turned back around to look at her. "Will you-"

Already anticipating his concern, Andromeda placed a finger on his mouth to stop him and then kissed his lips. "I'll be fine. I'll check in with Anderson every two weeks to relay a message."

Ambassador Anderson was someone that Garrus could trust to keep him informed about Andromeda's wellbeing. Both he and she knew that with him watching her, she could remain safe until Garrus' return from the mission. That was if he returned…

Putting on the last piece of clothing, he turned to face her once again as she sat up in the bed. "I'm not sure how long I will be out…" He began.

"I will wait." She nodded.

"If I don't make it…"

"You _will." _ Andromeda shook her head.

Giving her one more look, Garrus forced himself to exit the apartment. Glancing cautiously to the left and then to the right, he kept his head down to avoid any eye contact as he made his way down the nine hundred block of the Ward. Rounding a corner, he bumped into a male of Asian descent who apparently was taking a break and reading what appeared to be the morning news report on his tablet. "Excuse me." Garrus apologized as he sidestepped and quickened his pace to the loading dock.

"Not a problem." The man replied as he went back to his reading. He waited until Garrus cleared his vision and then tapped his right comm ear piece. "Target Shadow acquired. Requesting attraction."

"_Are you sure she's clear?" _ A voice responded doubtfully. "_We can't let Shepard become aware of this. We need him for the current mission."_

"Affirmative," The man known as Kai Leng smirked as he checked his back and then began to walk in the direction of Andromeda's apartment. "Vakarian just left." The latter was said with disgust.

_"Proceed with Phase II."_


	25. Chapter 25

After Garrus left, Andromeda found herself nuzzling his side of the pillow, taking in his scent. Her fingertips gently stroked the satin sheet cover up and down as she stared into nothingness. "_He won't come back…"_ The voice in the back of her mind spoke up. "_How are you going to go on without him?"_

_ "_He took down the Geth, He'll make it." Andromeda countered stubbornly as she raised her body slowly up into a sitting position on the head of the bed. She glanced across the room to her terminal which was located right before the door that led to the small economy size bathroom. Most of the apartments on her block of the Wards contained the standard medium size living room, hallway that led back to the bedroom with the adjoining bathroom. The upper Wards had some of the larger facilities: two or three bedrooms, however, those were for the diplomats or wealthy entrepreneurs. Cracking a smile as the idea was to send a message to Jenna, Andromeda made her way in the dark over to the terminal, keeping the sheet from falling off her naked body as best as she could. A part of her wanted to wait and tell Jenna the news in person to see the look on her face, but the temptation to tell her right away by any means necessary was too great! Tapping the screen to turn it on, she fumbled to peck the letters on the illuminated keypad to log in.

The chime of her security system granting access and the sound of the front door sliding open made her way freeze in place. Her fingertips hovered over the keypad as she slowly turned her head to look back into the dimly lit living room.

Kai Leng stepped into the apartment and paused briefly at the entrance. He quickly noted that all the rooms were dark, and a twisted smile appeared briefly on his face for just a second. "_She's asleep."_ He noted as he slipped out the hand held tranquilizer from his pocket and took a few more steps forward. Pausing, he did a slow scan for any surprise attacks. A rookie would have rushed in and easily could have fallen into a trap set by a well alarmed prey. Kai Leng, on the other hand, was no rookie.

Satisfied that the living room was clean, he proceeded onward. This was no simple job, none of his assignments were; they were planned. During his surveillance, he managed to download the schematics for the apartment's layout to his omni tool. The apartment's front door opened up to the barely spacious living room and further back was the bedroom, shifted to the right, followed by the bathroom that was on the other side of the bedroom. The bedroom and the bathroom gave Kai a disadvantage: He did not have a complete visual on the bedroom from the living room and the bathroom was completely out of his sight. Keeping his gun poised upwards by his shoulder, he took slow steps making sure that Andromeda wasn't waiting for him on the other side.

Narrowing his eyes, he hesitated at the bedroom door and rolled his fingertips along the holster of the gun, before jumping through the door frame and aiming the gun to the hidden right. The bed was empty…he looked up to see a light coming through the crack that was between the bathroom door and the base of the floor. "_She's in the bathroom….." _ He relaxed his fingers on the gun….just a bit. His charcoal colored eyes gave the bed one more glance and a look of disgust filled his face. The pillows were meshed down by the weight of two heads that were on them presently, and the cover was tossed to the one side. "_He was in the bed with her…." _ Kai Leng glared hard on the insulting sight. He loathed aliens…more importantly he loathed interrelations with the alien species. The thought of a human submitting themselves to the disgusting and lowly creatures burned him up inside which was another reason why working with Cerberus appealed to him. Plus his brutal acts against aliens while in the Alliance earned the attention of the Illusive Man.

Looking away from the bed, he moved closer to the bathroom as his adrenaline began to pick up. The sound of the shower inside lowered his alert levels. "_Easy picking…she's cornered now."_

Andromeda slowed down her breathing as she stood still in the linen closet next to the shower. She fussed silently realizing that by the fear of an unknown person in her apartment led her fleeing to the bathroom to take shelter and leaving her loaded hand held pistol in her night dresser. Now she was cornered, unarmed, and practically naked except for the bed sheet still wrapped around her body. She turned the shower on in hopes that it would diver t the stranger's attention, giving her just enough time to escape the apartment. Due to the shower's proximity and the fact that her assailant was blocking the bathroom door way, she would just have seconds to make her run.

The closet door didn't have way to look through so she just had to listen and pray that the stranger would decide to check the shower instead of coming to the conclusion it was a trick and check the closet first. Listening, she heard the unknown being getting closer and closer to her location…just barely. Whoever it was, they were mainly interested in the apartment's occupants and not the items because nothing was being ransacked. There was no talking so Andromeda assumed it was just one of them. The only problem was who was it? More importantly what was it? A Salarian? A Turian? A Krogan? An Asari? A Human? A sickening knot formed on her stomach as she began to wonder if it was one of the agents of the Shadow Broker looking for her just like Garrus feared…

Hearing the bathroom door slide open, she held her breath…

Steam was filling up in the bathroom when Kei Leng entered. The shower door was designed to not reveal the occupant's body but he was sure she was there. It all made sense to him, after their…."encounter" the Turian left to go back to Shepard's ship no doubt and the woman went to clean up. He really hoped that he would be able to be the one to interrogate her if it was necessary. Any human that had sex with an alien was a traitor to their species in his book and he would love to torture her for her sin. Unlike the God in one of Earth's Religions, there would be no salvation for her. He would damn her himself to the fires of hell.

He slowly reached out with his left hand to tap the shower door's button as his right hand fingers rested firmly on the gun's trigger. Just as he hit the button, he noticed in his peripheral vision that the closet door to his left slid open. A barely covered female lunged out at him and her fist struck hard in his face before he had a chance to pivot on his feet. Due to being off balance and the force of the blow, Kai Leng was stumbling back towards the bathroom's counter and he was slightly dazed. He turned his head to see the blur of the sheet end racing away from him as Andromeda sprinted out of the bathroom back into the bedroom.

Despite the blood oozing from his now broken nose, Kai Leng bolted out, quickly gaining on her. Instead of raising his weapon to take the easy shot, he grabbed the sheet with his left and gave it a firm yank. The cloth freed itself from Andromeda's grip and it became tangled up in her legs. Gravity and the inertia took its toll on the now naked form and she fell head first into the coffee table just as she entered the living room.

Her semi-conscious body laid on the floor now, face down, the sound of her groaning from the pain made Kei Leng aware that she was still alive. Walking towards her slowly, like an animal stalking its meal, taking the time to clean the blood from his face with the back of his hand, he watched on as she tried to push herself back up. Aiming the barrel of the gun downwards, Kai Leng took two shots at point blank range. The darts found their mark in the mid section of her lumbar and Andromeda's body went limp. With her still, he noticed the large abrasions to her back. The abrasions were long and ragged almost like claw marks….which caused him to spit in disgust. He concluded that the Turian in a sadistic nature clawed her like the beast he was.

Walking back to the bathroom to cleanse and nurse his wound, he touched his ear piece comm link. "Target secured. Ready for transport."

Less than a minute later, two men wearing C-Sec uniforms walked into the apartment carrying a long cargo box labeled "Fragile" on both sides. Kai Leng joined them in a neater appearance. "I need to get off this station immediately." He barked as he looked on while the two men wrapped Andromeda in the sheet then placed her down into the shipping container.

"Dock E Seven has a ship ready." One of the officers spoke up.

"Good. I expect you to be down there in fifteen minutes with the cargo." Kai Leng moved towards the entrance of the unit. "Once I'm clear, I want you both back here to do a sweep. Remove any hair, prints, blood stains and fibers. I want it clean. Understand?"

"It will be done." The second saluted to the commanding Cerberus officer.

Hours later, Kai Leng took few sips from his Sake dish as he logged into the ship's terminal. After his departure, he manually hacked into the mainframe to delete the ship's manifest prior to arriving and entering the Citadel to prevent any traces. He also changed the ship's route and identification tag. For any spacer, they were to assume that his vessel was a simple barter ship making its rounds. To C-Sec thanks to Cerberus' slippery tentacles into the organization, there was no trace of the ship's existence including his. The man to them known as Nylan Sou no longer existed in their databases and recording devices.

There was only one person who truly knew the ship's intended destination and pilot and that was the Illusive Man. The older gentleman sat in his usual chair as his face filled the computer's video messaging system. "Do you have her?" He asked with little doubt. Kai Leng was one of his best agents, he always completed his missions and was loyal to the cause.

"Affirmative." Kai Leng replied.

"Good to hear," The Illusive Man took a sip of his brandy that was poured prior to their conference. "Any trouble?"

"None. I'm in route as instructed. Shall I begin the interrogations?" He tried to hide the eagerness that filled him ever since he left the station.

"Go to the outpost first…I will contact you again." The video connection closed on the Illusive Man's end abruptly making Kei Leng give a look of displeasure back towards the ship's cargo hold.

"Understood…" He growled as he tapped over on the ship's navigation console to set in the automatic pilot. Moving out of the cockpit, he made his way to the back of the ship to check on his carry on.

_"Garrus!" Andromeda's voice cried out to him in the bombardment of ammunition throughout the foggy city._

_ "Andromeda!" Garrus' could hear his voice strain as he dodged incoming fire from an unknown enemy. He shot blindly with his assault weapon and then took cover behind a piece of a collapsed structure. Panting, he discharged his weapon and slipped in another clip to prevent his gun from overheating. _

_ "We have two coming our way! Get to the point!" Shepard yelled at him through the barrage of incoming fire that made hearing difficult. The sounds of explosions and screams filled the air. For some reason Garrus couldn't recall where he was, but all he knew was that hell was being unleashed by a foe he never encountered before._

_ Suddenly the streets were filled with husks, the vile mixture of Reaper technology and flesh like the kind he and Shepard encountered on Eden Prime. The husks were humanoid and they moaned in a sickening manner as they clawed their way through the rubble to get to Shepard and his team. "Garrus!" Andromeda's voice called out again. The voice appeared to be closer and just past the husks!_

_ Bolting out, Garrus opened up a spray of bullets that tore through the husks' decaying flesh as he sprinted to get to her. He had to find her._

_ The smoke cleared up ahead and a brutal sight of a female humanoid husk running closer with a piercing yet familiar cry. Garrus stopped dead in his tracks as he realized that this husk used to be Andromeda. "Garrus!" The husk called out to him desperately as it came running at him with kill intent._

_ "Noooooooo!" The Turian screamed. _

Awakening from his nightmare, Garrus sat straight up quickly trying to get his bearings as he looked around panting to catch his breath. His talons had torn into the bed sheets in his quarters, ripping the material to pieces. Cupping his face, he desperately tried to block out the image in his mind of seeing Andromeda turned to a husk. Quickly the image switched over to when he and she were on Ilium and when they first kissed….the scene brought slight peace but he still couldn't get passed the fear over what he may have to endure in the fight ahead. He saw what brutal mutilations the Reapers and the Geth did to humans on Eden Prime and on the Derelict Reaper vessel days ago. He then remembered it had been over a week since he left Andromeda again on the Citadel.

The room's internal alarm system began to beep indicating the preset time he programmed just twenty minutes before the Omega 4 Relay run. Grabbing his armor, he slid up from the bed and began to get dressed. Unfortunately with the Normandy's crew except for Shepard's team and Joker being captured by the Collectors, Garrus was unable to send a message out to Andromeda to say his goodbyes just in case. Of course, he could have logged into the private terminal himself to see if he could find a comm buoy to bounce a message off, but there was no time. Forcing him to push Andromeda out of his head to remain focused for the battle ahead, he maneuvered out of the crew quarters over to the the Forward Battery to do one more diagnostic.

"Everyone check in." Shepard's voice echoed out from the PA system minutes after Garrus finished the diagnostic.

"Ready." Garrus complied with the others.

"Let's go give the Collectors hell!"

End of Mass Effect 2: Andromeda Series

To be concluded in Mass Effect 3: Andromeda Series Coming 2012


End file.
